
p 



Qass ! ' '"^ 

Book^_ 






PRIMITIVE AND UNIVERSAL 

LAWS 

OF THE 

FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT 

OF 

LAN GU AGE. 

A RATIONAL AND INDUCTIVE SYSTEM FOUNDED ON THE 
NATURAL BASIS 

OF 

ONOMATOPS. 

BY 

CALLISTUS AUGUSTUS COUNT de GODDES-LIANCOUKT 



AND 



iX 



/ ^7 



FREDERIC PINCOTT. "^\ ^ 



Verba ex " onomatopoieia " oriuntur. 
NaturS revoluta, ad Naturam revertuntur. 



'■> 



t 



LONDON: 
WM. H. ALLEN & CO., 

13, WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. 
1874. 



I 



o"^ 






LONDON : 
GILEERT AND EIVINGTON, 28, WHITEFRIAES STREET, AND 

52, ST. John's square, clerkenwell, e.g. 



TO 



§x. #. m. Wntmx, 

PEINCIPAL OF THE GOVERNMENT COLLEGE, LAHORE, EEGISTEAE OF 

THE PUNJAB UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, AND FOUNDER AND PEESIDENJD OF 

NUMEROUS LITERARY AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, 

AS A TESTIMONY TO THE 

AUTHOK, LINGUIST, EEFOEMER 



AND 



DISCOVERER OF LANGUAGES, 



THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY 



THE AUTHORS. 



CONTENTS 









Page 


Introduction 1 


Mezzofanti on Onomatops 






2 


Civilized barbarity ..... 






3 


Remarkable linguists .... 






4 


Language the civilizing agent 






6 


Founders of the Science of Language 






7 


Theories on the origin of language 






8 


Imitation Theory .... 






8 


Interjection Theory 






9 


Professor Max Miiller's Theory 






9 


Sourd-muets 






10 


Natural Onomatops 






^ 12 


Baron Bunsen on the growth of language 






14 


Roots or Bases .... 






14 


Moffat on African dialects 






15 


Why language is divers 






16 


Unbounded variety in primitive language 






16 


Laws of development 






19 


Sir C. Lyell on the existence of law 






19 


Combination of sounds 






20 


Compound words .... 






21 


Origin of grammatical inflexion 






22 


Intensives . . • . 






23 


Word-formation of Egyptian hieroglyphs 






24 


Exaggeration as a process of change 






25 


Reduplication .... 






25 


Syntactical arrangements 






29 



( ^i ) 



M. Maspero on Egyptian grammar 
Participles ..... 
Turkish equivalent for the verb '^ to have 
Conjugational affixes . . . 
Compression as a process of change 
Phonetic corruption 

Languages not derived from each other 
The word mid explained 
Abbreviations in Egyptian hieroglyphs 
Base and Termination 
Civilization fixes languages 
Metastasis ..... 
Metaphor ..... 

Its operation illustrated by gri 
The sound vri becomes o in Latin 
Mr. H. Sweet on Onomatopoiea 
Onomatops evolved by natural processes 
J. S. Mill on the necessity for law 

PR^FAMEN 

Onomatops the basis of language 
Etymology of the word Onomatop 
Scope of present inquiry 
Sanskrit the basis of philology 
Dr. Darwin^s theory confirmed by the study of 
language ....... 

Section I. — Onomatops according to former writers 

Section II. — What Onomatops really are 
The poetry of sound 
Imitative vocables . 
Imitation theory confuted 
Interjection theory confuted 
Real basis of language 
Gesticulation .... 
Definition of ^' Onomatop " 



( vii ) 



The lion^s roar an Onomatop 

Dissatisfaction the Motive Power in man 

Instinct ..... 

Theory of development of Onomatops 

Explanation of Roots 

Roots in Semitic languages 

Sanskrit roots 

Their history 

Extravagant veneration for Sanskrit roots 

Mr. Wedgwood on Sanskrit roots 

Rational estimate of Sanskrit roots 

The term Root a misnomer 

Base a better name than Root 

Intelligibility of bases 

Analysis of bases 

Intensive affix sh 

The '^Remote Definite^' . 

The " Proximate Definite '' 

The base stri analyzed 

Section III.— Collective Analysis 

Alliances among bases 

Remarkable phonetic corruptions 

Palseographic corruption 

The sense-giving base of a word 

Corruption by syllabic instants 

The base vri .... 

Vowels mere vocalizations of consonants 

The word ''Law'' 

Summary of the explanation of " Law " 

Section IV.— General Illustrations 
Coelum, and its congeners 
Tonanteniy its etymology 
Crediflimus, its meaning 
Jovem, its etymology 



83 
86 
86 
87 
87 
88 
89 
89 
90 
90 
91 
92 
93 
93 
95 
95 
96 
96 
98 

101 
102 
104 
106 
111 
113 
113 
114 
115 
155 

157 
157 
159 
163 
163 



( viii ) 









Page 


Regnare, and its congeners 165 


Enarrant, its etymology . 






167 


Gloriam explained ..... 






168 


Flower J analysis and etymology of . 






169 


Bee, its etymology 






187 


Father, its etymology .... 






189 


The word Father in 200 languages 






192 


Conclusion 






201 


Speech the source of all man^s greatness 






201 


Mental Philosophy .... 






202 


Thought_, the product of Language . 






202 


Man spoke before he reasoned 






203 


All animal noises potential words 






205 


Language an " accomplishment " 






207 


Stages in growth of language 






207 


Primordial Onomatops 






208 


APPENDIX . 






209 


Languages of Dardistan . 






209 


Dr. Leitner's discoveries . 






209 


Aryan character of the Dards . 






212 


Augmented preterite . . 






218 


The word dachini .... 






223 


Illustrations from the languages of Dardistan 




224 


Their Onomatopic character 






231 



INTEODUCTION. 



While in Eome — 1840 — occupied in establishing 
a "Humane Society'' on the Flavum Tiberim, and 
lecturing on the art of bringing the asphyxied back to 
life, I"" had the honour to breakfast with Cardinal 
Mezzofanti, and an old friend, Count Martorelli, minis- 
ter of Hohenzollern. The reader will easily imagine 
that I did not lose the opportunity of conyersing on 
idioms and symbols, &c., in company with such excel- 
lent scholars. His Eminence having made a character- 
istic mimical sign to his servant, I at once approached 
the subject. The quick perception of the Cardinal 
soon outran me, and he said, ''Mimicry acts powerfully 
on man, and on the lower animals generally. They 
not only comprehend the expression of the acted 
thought, but they penetrate our modelling of the ex- 
pression itself." I then rejoined as follows : '' Does 
not your Eminence believe that Greek actors had 
really, at one time, conquered the art of mimicry, so 
as even to occasion hysterical fits in those assembled 
to witness their performances, and to induce the magis- 
trates of the Eepublic to suppress pantomimes ? " "I 
have no doubt that the history is true, and so is also 
the enactment of the magistrates of the Athenians." 

* De G.-Liiiiicourt. 



A LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

"Then/' I added, ^^ mimicry, as a sub-faculty of our 
intelligence, seems to me one of the probable crude 
forms of language. Does not your Eminence think 
that monosyllables must be onomatops ?'' ^^ Yes, I do; 
there is certainly a good deal in onomatops, and I will 
consider that interesting subject at the earliest oppor- 
tunity.'' The Cardinal then, pointing to a chair where 
I was to sit, asked me what were the equivalents of 
poele and chaise in Picard. Had I been foreign to 
Picardy^ I should have wondered at this singular 
question ; but we had before us an omelette aux fines 
herhes^ and, though much puzzled, the link of the 
ideas passing in his Eminence's mind was soon dis- 
covered. ^' In Picard/' I replied^ "the vocables 
poele and chaise are called pa-ielle and ca-ielle.^^^ 
" Just what I wrote this morning !" exclaimed Mezzo- 
fanti ; and a marked joy conveyed to me that the 
association of ideas was not to him a mystery.'' 

To speak of the birth-place of language is, seem- 
ingly, a mere assumption; but where the human 
genus was formed, or transformed, in times that baffle 
all calculation, there man began to exercise the won- 

" Another Cardinal in London made a sharp remark about this 
celebrated Mezzofanti : " Perhaps his Eminence knew the fact by 
consulting a biography." 

^ I^a- found in pa-hulum ; and ha- or ca- in Ka-Oe^pa ; -ielle is 
the termination that marks the Picard patois. 

*" Finally, the Cardinal told me that he was just come from 
Bologna, where he had met several Cochin-Chinese princes, who 
afforded him a good opportunity for working at his Cochin-Chinese 
Dictionary. I have never once heard of this work since 



INTRODUCTION. 6 

derful faculty he possesses in common with other 
animals. But man, amongst all other creatures, is 
certainly the only one who had the astonishing power 
of enlarging the gift of nature to an unlimited extent, 
from, so to speak, the cry of pain to the melopoeia of 
joy. Furthermore, man only can symbolize in a thou- 
sand manners and ways, the whole creation of which 
he is princeps.^ 

The process of learning to speak is far from a rapid 
one. We have seen many ploughmen and wood- 
men who could never imagine what a musical note 
was ; who had never reflected one single minute on 
the resources of language ; and had never uttered 
more than 200 difi'erent words in their lives. We 
asked some of them what God was, Jesus, England, 
France, &c. Their answers were, "I can't say," ''I 
don't know," ^^I have never seen them." This state has 
been most improperly called the state of blessed igno- 
rance. In a part of the country about twenty miles 
from London, we have known men of forty, fifty, and 
sixty years old, looking stupid and unable to express a 
single idea. Speech — so near to the mind ; the instru- 
ment for the expression of thought ; the instrument so 
necessary for all the operations of man's intellect ; the 
instrument which imparts to its possessor the power of 
thinking within himself and with his fellow-men ; the 
greatest of intellectual feats — among these poor people 

* Plato was the first who introduced tlie vocahle ovojuawpyov and 
oi'O/jLaToOerrjv, 

b2 



4 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

is more than barbarous, or negative. By the side of 
such degraded beings let us place a Mithridates, who 
could speak twenty-two tongues ; or a Themistocles, 
who learned how to speak Persian fluently in one year. 
The memorice felicitas of that illustrious warrior was 
so wonderful that he used to say jocularly, '' I wish 
some one could teach me how to forget ; because I 
recollect things I would have forgotten, and I cannot 
forget things which I would not recollect." These 
wonders of past ages have been surpassed by Mezzo- 
fanti, late Librarian of the Vatican. This astonishing 
man, the son of a carpenter, when on the very eve of 
engaging in the same business as his father, was res- 
cued from manual toil by a monk, who had discovered 
a great power within him. The monk interested him- 
self in the welfare of the little Mezzofanti, and sent 
him to school. At the age of twenty-two the student 
had acquired a knowledge of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, 
French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, 
English, and Eussian. Ultimately he acquired about 
forty languages, and could have travelled round the 
world without an interpreter, for he could express 
himself even in African and American idioms. It 
must be confessed, however^ that as soon as Mezzofanti 
was led into a conversation the subject of which was 
alien to polyglottism, the good man ceased to be a 
cardinal point in the horizon of science. 

Our friend Elihu Burritt was a blacksmith's appren- 
tice when he picked up some leaves of a foreign gram- 
mar, and became, so to speak, suddenly a professor of 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

Coptic, Phoenician, Persian, Syriac, French, English, 
German, and Italian, with a good range of other ac- 
cessory knowledge. 

Stanislas Julien was another wonder. He was 
keeper of a little shop on the Place de I'Estrapade, 
close by the Pantheon at Paris. Once a snow-storm 
overtook Julien near the College de France, not far 
from the Estrapade, and he took shelter in the estab- 
lishment. The storm increasing in intensity, Julien 
ventured to enter a room on a level with the ground 
floor, and finding a stove burning went forward to 
warm himself. Shortly after an old gentleman entered 
carrying several books under his arm ; the books he 
quietly placed on a kind of pulpit, and joined Julien 
at the fire. In a few moments he said, ^' Well, sir, I 
thought I should have to lecture to the four walls, 
but I see with pleasure that to-day I have one pupil 
in attendance." ^^ I beg your pardon, sir,'' replied 
Stanislas Julien, ^^ but I am not a student. Surprised 
by this storm I ventured to take refuge here^ and to 
warm myself in this deserted room." *^Do not trouble 
yourself, young man, I am happy to receive you in 
this my lecture-room, and, should you like it, I shall 
be glad to teach you Chinese and to furnish you with 
the necessary books. I see you have a quick eye ; you 
might make rapid progress : it will cost you nothing." 
Julien accepted the generous ofi'er, became very pro- 
ficient, and, when the excellent lecturer not long 
9,fter died, Julien was elected professor, with a salary 
of £400 a year, and a yet more distinguished reputa- 



6 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

tion. Stanislas Julien, who recounted the above cir- 
cumstance to us himself, could speak Chinese to the 
Chinese, a miracle that his venerable and learned 
professor could never perform. 

These very remarkable men^ with the utterly igno- 
rant and uncultivated labourer by their side and in 
contradistinction to them, represent the whole range 
of the power of our race. It is as wonderful to 
observe Mezzofanti, Elihu Burritt, Stanislas Julien, 
and others like them^ plunging at once into the abyss 
of language, as it is to witness the English labourer 
living during three generations without being able to 
acquire the elements of a single one. 

The problem of the origin of speech is one of the 
most interesting that can engage the human mind. 
In it is involved the examination of that rudimental 
germ or autelechy whence sprang all the lofty con- 
ceptions of Homer, the divine guide of the sublime 
triad of tragic poets ; of Plato and Aristotle, the fer- 
vent and immortal worshippers of eternal beauty ; of 
Pindar, Virgil, Horace, Cicero, Archimedes and tutti 
quant% the founders of our present intellectual great- 
ness — men who never caused a tear to be shed by their 
myriads of admirers during thousands of years, except 
those tears provoked by gratitude, love, and admiration. 
By contemplating the heroes in all branches of art and 
science, it is easy to see that all that man is and has 
beyond his animal nature is the gift of language. 
This it is which marks in an indelible way the line 



INTBODUCTION. 7 

of demarcation between man and beast — the rubicon 
which no other animal has ever crossed. Bereft of 
language, man would be still following his animal 
instincts, ignorant alike of past and future, incapable 
of progress, because incapable of communicating ad- 
vancing thought. From considerations such as these 
the early Hindus raised speech to the rank of deity, 
and prized the acquisition with feelings of reverential 
awe. 

When the mind has been once awakened to the 
consciousness of the mysterious and potent agent now 
so obedient to its command, a feeling of surprise over- 
takes the thinker as he reflects on the little notice 
bestowed upon the subject, while so much time and 
pains are given to cognate branches of science. The 
intangibility of words no doubt accounts for much 
of this neglect; and the subtle natiu-e of the bond 
linking sound and sense, eluding all but the 
closest scrutiny ; so that it required the combined 
labours of a succession of such men as Leibnitz,* 
Home Tooke,^ Pritchard,"" Schlegel,"^ Eask,^ Grimm,^ 
Adelung,^ ^^PP?^ Burnouf,' Humboldt,J Bunsen,*" 

* Dissertation on the Origin of Nations. *• Diversions of 

Parley. '^ Eesearches into the Physical History of Man. 

^ Essay on the Language and Philosophy of the Hindoos. 

® Ursprung der Altnordischen oder Isliindischen Sprache. 

f Deutsche Grammatik. e Mithridates. 

^ Vergleichend Grammatik des Sanskrit, Zend, Griechischen, &c. 
— Glossarium Sanskritum, — Kritische Gram, des Sanskrit. 

^ Commentaire sur le ya9na. J On the Kawi Language. 

^ Christianity and Mankind. — Egypt's Place in Universal History. 



8 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

Max Miiller,^ Eichoff,^ Pictet,'= J. E. Eenan/L. Delatre,^ 
E. Duponceau/ P. Eenouard/ N. F. Wiseman,^ &c., &c., 
to demonstrate the great fact that speech is a homo- 
geneous whole. 

Setting aside ancient unreasoning assumptions, three 
hypotheses have been propounded to account for man's 
possession of language. The first of these is what 
Professor Max Miiller aptly styles the Bow-wow 
Theory, according to which man, originally mute, 
hearing the sound of the lamb, the wolf, the wind, the 
thunder, (fee, &c., sought to imitate them with his vocal 
organs.' The most able exponent of this theory was 
the late Baron Bunsen, who, in his great work on 
'^ Egypt's Place in Universal History," announces this 
as the final result of his studies. In despite, however, 
of so high an authority, this ingenious theory must 
fall to the ground, as it has never been explained, 
firstly, why man should have been the only mute 
animal ; secondly, how it was that he possessed vocal 
organs for an indefinite period without the power to 
use them ; and, thirdly, how any process of imitation 

* The Science of Language. 

^ Parallele des Langues de I'lnde et de I'Europe. 

^ Les Aryas Primitifs. •* Orig. des Lang. Semitiques. 

® Fran9ais et Sanscrit dans leurs rapports. 

^ Langues Indiennes et Chinoises. 

s Science and Eeligion, 1856. 

h On the Influence of Words, 1856. 

^ There is in French a sort of ffrun, or yrww, cru-cru, very 
often resorted to. There is no articulation ; the mouth is not 
open ; but it means, Look at this, or that, or I notice you, &c . 
It would not be fair to call it language ; it is simply an onomatop. 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

could have given to man the faculty of speech, without 
which his imitative instinct could never have come 
into play. 

The second hypothesis has been called the Pooh-pooh 
Theory, because, according to it, articulate speech 
arose from the interjections of pain, joy, surprise, 
wonder, and admiration, which start out from the 
very nature of animated beings. Now there is a fatal 
objection to such a limited basis for language, viz. 
that existing words cannot be brought back to inter- 
jectional forms. We never speak of oh ! or ah ! but 
of pain, grief, vexation ; we do not say ha ! ha ! but 
laugh, smile, pleasure, merriment. Home Tooke 
justly observes, that ^' Language is built upon the 
downfall of interjections." 

The third method of accounting for language is that 
of Professor Max Miiller. In the opinion of this emi- 
nent scholar, man, by his very nature, and as one of his 
proper qualities, is possessed of a few hundred vocal 
sounds, each of which has an inherent sense, which man 
has no more the power of acquiring or of altering than 
he has the power of adding to his own stature, or of 
endowing himself with eye-sight, hearing, taste, feeling, 
or smell. With respect to this theory, it need only 
be remarked, that it leaves the question unanswered. 
It brings the inquirer up to the original bases, and 
teaches him to believe that all existing languages 
took their origin from a small number of cognate or 
possibly identical bases, and then the theory leaves him 
with the assurance that these bases are inexplicable. 



10 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

But the explication of these bases is, unfortunately, 
the very problem a solution of which philosophy 
demands. To treat them as inexplicable is, in effect, 
to assert that, although the mental and moral faculties 
are reducible to system, and are acknowledged to have 
been developed by natural processes, yet that language, 
one of the agents by which these faculties operate, is 
beyond the ken of the human mind. There is, further- 
more, this fatal objection to Professor Max Miiller's 
very orthodox theory, the indisputable fact that people 
born deaf never speak, although the organs of speech 
may be quite unimpaired. !N"ow if bases were man's 
natural inheritance, he would express his wants by 
their means without tuition, in the same way that he 
looks with his eyes, eats with his mouth, and reaches 
with his hands. One born deaf is, however, quite 
oblivious of the use of language, and resorts to ges- 
ture as the appropriate means of communicating with 
others. Neither does it dispose of this matter to say 
that the faculty is dormant from inability to appreciate 
uttered sound; because people afflicted in the way 
spoken of do make noises (pure onomatops) for the 
purpose of arresting attention, expressing anger, &c. 
The noises they utter, are, however, not Aryan bases 
with inherent sense, such as when uttered can be at 
once understood by other Aryans. We never hear 
anything like vid^ or fas^ or hri, or da^ or any other 
base, issue from their lips. Yet this is what we 
should hear if bases were natural to man, even if we 
allow that all grammatical inflexion is matter of con- 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

yention. On the contrary, the sounds these poor 
creatures utter are all of a purely animal character, 
a gurgling, snarling, shapeless kind, such as it is 
impossible to write, and painfully sad to hear. One 
such natural fact as this is more conclusive than many 
arguments, and it proves incontestibly that what we 
call bases are in reality as much acquired as are the 
methods of inflecting them, and that all that we can 
fairly consider to be the natural gift of man is the 
power of making noises with certain organs which we 
call vocal. 

Eurthermore, if bases were intuitive^ all nations 
would speak one language ; for each individual would 
be bom with the common stock of words, and would 
at once apply them in their unalterable senses, in the 
same way that all races of mankind use their hands, 
feet, and eyes, in precisely identical manners. So, 
also, it would be right to argue that each nation 
would be able to speak the languages of every other 
nation without special tuition ; for though certain 
clusters of individuals may have habituated them- 
selves to the use of a limited number of the common 
natural stock of bases, yet they could not fail to 
understand perfectly any of the others that might be 
uttered by strangers to their society. 

The real objection to the imitation and interjection 
theories lies against their too narrow foundations. 
Man is an imitative animal, it is true, but not purely 
imitative 5 he possesses also an impulse to spontaneity. 
This latter impulse is taken as the one basis of Ian- 



12 ■ LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

guage by the advocates of the Pooh-pooh theory. 
Onomatopoieism is all imitation ; and Interjectionalism 
is all exclamation ; neither of these theories, nor does 
that of Professor Miiller, take cognizance of the nume- 
rous sounds emissible by man that express, by neither 
imitation nor interjection, the many and ever varying 
animal sensations. 

It has often been said that an infant expresses all 
its wants by crying. This is true only of the first few 
weeks of infancy, when all that the child is conscious 
of is the desire for food, and the sensations of personal 
pain. 1^0 sooner does the animal nature develop 
sufficiently to let the little creature know of other 
things and beings beyond itself, than the power of 
expression at once enlarges, and every mother hears 
and understands the many modulations of tone, — the 
murmuring, cackling, hissing, puffing, and such-like 
indescribable sounds by means of which the little 
infant expresses its wants, its approbation, and its 
disapproval. A more instructive lesson on the origin 
of language can scarcely be imagined than that afforded 
by the significant noises of a child of about a year old, 
before it is capable of uttering a single articulate 
word.^ One half-hour's observation will astonish a 



^ Though well known, we must recall to memory the Httle his- 
tory of Psammeticus. That prince, wishing to detect the origin of 
language, and its comparative antiquity, confided two poor children 
to the keeping of a herdsman. They were shut up in a small 
house by themselves, and completely isolated, in order that they 
should forget everything. At the end of the period of isolation the 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

discerning mind with the almost incredible volubility 
and expressive character of the natural onomatops 
which such a child will pour forth .^ These utterances, 
alike in all times and in all places, form the natural 
and true basis of articulate speech. The germs of all 
past, present, and future generations are contained 
one in the other, as if packed up in a succession of 
boxes. ^ This was Cuvier's idea of the developments of 
form, and the same remark seems to apply to mental 
evolutions. Certain it is that the only sounds natural 
to man are those which each child utters in its first 



herdsman reported that, when he visited the poor creatures they 
repeatedly said " Becos ! Becos ! " the Phrygian word for Iread 
(Gr. <8e/c). 

^ " Os tenerum pueri balbum que poeta figuras." " The poet 
fashions the tender and lisping accents of the boy." The Romans 
recognize the services of poetry. The ancient Greeks used, rightly, 
to make children at first learn by rote the moral sentences of the 
poets, so as to accustom their ears to sweetness and propriety, and 
to compel them to pronounce with exactness. Horace argues that 
poetry renders great service to ethics, enabling men to bear uncom- 
plainingly the infirmities of old age and ill health, and teaching 
them admirably how to sustain poverty itself under the scorn and 
insult of contumelious opulence. 

^ Godfrey Wilhelm, Baron de Leibnitz, two centuries ago, pro- 
pounded the theory of the cosmologic system of monads (juova^), 
which was, and is, the most rational hypothesis, but also the most 
subtle, which was ever suggested, to explain the formation of the 
world. The difficulty of understanding the schema, or principle, 
essential to the existence of every monad or unity -jperfect, has been 
much more against Leibnitz than against the truth of his cos- 
mologic doctrine, the honour of the discovery of which was claimed 
by Newton. 



14 LmGUISTIC OEIGINES. 

efforts to convey its meaning ; and these are always 
uttered for purely animal purposes. 

That profound philosopher, the late Baron Bunsen^ 
supplies the demonstration to this simple reasoning^ 
in his work on Christianity and Mankind. He there 
says,^ *'In surveying all the languages of which we 
have records, we find the constant phenomenon, that 
the physical sense is the substratum of the meta- 
physical." And again, he states that the evidence 
of language points *' to the fact that all intellectual, 
moral, and spiritual notions are found to be only 
the secondary signification of the respective words, 
their primary sense being physical, sensual."^ The 
plainest proof that the abstract arose from the 
concrete. 

This fact being established, our ground is circum- 
scribed and cleared for the final investigation. All 
language is reducible to the concrete o?^o/xa, otherwise 
called roots or bases, simple monosyllabic sounds. In 
the words of Professor Miiller, ''They are phonetic 
types produced by a power inherent in human nature,'' *" 
and articulate speech is fabricated from these stems 
by man, "guided only by innate laws, or by an 
instinctive impulse.'"' IN'o one will contest this who 
has studied the efforts of a young infant to express 

^ Vol. iv. p. 133. 

^ " Nomina verbaque non positu fortuito sed quadam vi, et ratione 
naturae facta esse." — A. Gellius, Noct. Attic. 1. x. cap. iv. Natu- 
ralia magis quam arbitraria. 

"" Science of Language, Part I. p. 370. ^ Ibid. p. 296. 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

its meaning by sound. Indeed, this scholar admits 
the whole question for which we contend, and defini- 
tively confutes his own final speculations when he 
says, "In fact, interjections, together with gestures 
and moyements of the muscles of the mouth and the 
eye, would be quite sufficient for all purposes which 
language answers with the majority of mankind ;'^^^ 
and again, " We cannot deny the possibility that a 
language might have been formed on the principle 
of imitation." ^ These admissions, coupled with the 
assertion that "nothing in nature exists by accident," "^ 
beget surprise in the reader that so acute a reasoner 
as Professor Miiller did not perceive the only rational 
conclusion deducible from them. Still more marvellous 
does this become when we find the same author re- 
lating the experience of Moffat, the African traveller,'* 
who states that the inhabitants of isolated villages in 
the desert tracts of Africa are frequently compelled 
to travel to great distances from their homes ; "on 
such occasions, fathers and mothers, and all who can 
bear a burden, often set out for weeks at a time, and 
leave their children to the care of two or three infirm 
old people. The infant progeny, some of whom are 
beginning to lisp, while others can just master a 
whole sentence, and those still further advanced, 
romping and playing together, the children of nature, 
through their live-long day, become habituated to a 

a Science of Language, Part I. p. 353. '' Ibid. p. 346. 

« Ibid. p. 18. ^ Ibid. p. 53. 



16 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

language of their own. The more voluble condescend 
to the less precocious; and thus, from this infant 
Babel, proceeds a dialect of a host of mongrel words 
and phrases, joined together without rule, and, in the 
course of one generation the entire character of the 
language is cliangedP 

Such facts lay bare the whole process of, and the 
reason for the existing diversity among tongues ; for 
the African villager of to-day is the reflex of what 
civilized man was some 5000 years ago. The first 
tendency of language was unquestionably to un- 
bounded variety ; and of this we have yet remaining 
evidence in the superabundance of synonyms found 
in ancient dialects. If we take so modern a form 
of speech as the Sanskrit, we find that the more 
primitive is the idea, the more words are there to 
represent it. The proof of this axiom is found in 
some statistics of the Sanskrit language published in 
the "Notes and Queries," June 20, 1870. The writer 
[F, P.] had arranged the Sanskrit bases under English 
vocables as a kind of reversed dictionary, including 
in the arrangement every fairly established radical in 
the language. The conclusions are given in the fol- 
lowing words : — 

"There are between 1700 and 1800 original Sanskrit roots. 
The exact number will be about 1780. These have been 
registered under 645 English vocables ; but as many of the 
roots have been repeated under synonyms, and from difference 
of conjugation, &c., it results that the arrangement includes 
5658 apparent roots, giving an average of 3*2 meanings to 
each radical. Now these 5658 apparent roots are most 



INTRODUCTION. 



17 



unequally divided over their 6i5 Eoglish representatives. 
] 80 words have only one root each ; on the other hand, one 
word {go) has 439 roots to itself. There are five vocables 
with more than 100 roots each : — 



\^) g^ • • • 
(2) injure . 


270 


(3) sound . . . . 


165 


(4) shine . 


141 


(5) speak . 


129 




1144 



It will be seen that a large part of this total can be 
deducted from the 1780 original roots, as the ideas expressed 
differ too much to allow of much repetition. Thus we have 
the curious result that the major portion of the radicals 
express but five simple ideas. But deducting 1144 from the 
gross apparent number 5658, we have 4514 roots remaining. 
Selecting vocables which have between 50 and lOU radicals 
registered under them, we have — 

(6) kill 

(7) bind 



(8) cut 

(9) divide 

(10) abuse 

(11) throw 

(12) tremble 

(13) collect 

(14) cover 

(15) surround 



75 
54 
56 
50 
62 
75 
57 
61 
56 
61 



607 



The primitive nature of these words will be noticed, and 
also that the two lists of only fifteen words comprise 1851 of 
the roots, or just one- third of the whole number. 

There are sevenken words which have between 30 and 50 



18 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



radicals registered under each^ which I give in two divisions^ 
as a new class of idea appears : — 





Rougher Idea. 




(16) break . . . . 39 


(17) burn 








31 


(18) despise 








49 


(19) join . 








37 


(20) firm (be) 








36 


(21) give . 








47 


(22) take . 








38 


Gentler Idea. 


(23) love . . . , 32, 


(24) play . 








36 


(25) please 








31 


(26) praise 








35 


(27) worship 








31 


(28) serve 








37 


(29) desire 








41 


(30) wish 








32 


(31) increase 








40 


(32) eat . 








49 



277 



Total 



364 

"eiT 



Descending lower_, I find 39 vocables with between 20 
and 30 radicals a-piece, comprising as a total 922 more of 
the gross number. It would make this communication too 
long to set these out at length ; but they contain the yet 
more developed ideas of ^ adorn/ ^ dwell^^ ' flow/ ' know/ 
^ obtain/ ^ preserve/ ^ purify/ &c. 

Beyond these there are 70 vocables with between 10 and 
20 roots under each, which absorb 937 radicals among them^ 
and introduce to us the yet more refined notions of ' colour/ 
^cook/ * finish/ ^fry/ ^earn/ '^ prosper/ * proud/ &c. 



INTRODUCTION. 



19 



Now^ collecting the foregoing totals, we have — 



Vocables. 

Registering 

100 + 
50 to 100 
30 to 50 
20 to 30 
10 to 20 



Roots, 

No. No. 

5 1144 

10 607 

17 641 

39 922 

70 937 



Totals 



141 



4251 



Therefore, out of the whole numher of words (645) under 
which the 6658 roots are registered, 141 words (or 21 per 
cent.) appropriate 4251 (or 75 per cent.), leaving only 1407 to 
be divided among the remaining 504 vocables, or an average 
of 2*79 roots a-piece. It is further seen that the simpler the 
idea, the larger is the number of roots found to express it ; 
the whole illustrating in an unforeseen way the primitive 
character of the Sanskrit language. 

The laws by which language has been developed 
from primitive articulations are few and simple ; as, 
indeed, are all the operations of nature when we reach 
their real source. 

Sir C. Lyell thus expresses himself on this ques- 
tion : — 

It becomes a curious subject of inquiry, what are the laws 
which govern not only the invention, but also the selection of 
some of these words or idioms ; giving them currency in pre- 
ference to others ? Although when we observe the manner in 
which n€w words and phrases are thrown out, as if at random 
or in sport, while others get into vogue, we may think the 
process of change to be the result of mere chance, — there are 
nevertheless fixed laws in action, by which, in the general 
struggle for existence, some terms and dialects gain the vic- 
tory over others. 

c 2 



20 LINGUISTIC OEIGINES. 

"Words change their forms by Combination and 
Compression^ and their meanings by Metaphoric usage. 

By Combination we mean the joining of two sounds, 
so as to produce a compound with a sense differing 
from that of either of the components taken separately, 
as, up -rise ^ up-right, Ey Compression we mean the 
blending of two or more sounds into one syllabic 
instant, which may or may not be accompanied with 
a change of sense ; as, to prise {i.e, up-rise) a board. 
Piplu for apipluj and pidhdna for apidhdna, are in- 
stances in Sanskrit. Under Metaphor we would 
include every change in the use of a vocable ; for the 
assumption of a dynamic character by a static word, 
or its adverbial employment, are clearly metonymical 
processes. When we say, ''Hand me a chair," the 
action requires the hand ; but the employment of the 
word in this sense is as much metaphoric as it is when 
we speak of a hand?/ tool. 

The laws of the development of language are set 
forth in the following table : — 

1. Combination. 

a. Compounding. 

b. Reduplicating. 

c. Inflecting. 

2. Compression. 

a. Phonetic. 

b. Metastatic. 

3. Metaphor. 

The process of Combination operates in several 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

ways. Sound is added to sound with a view to inten- 
sify the meaning. This process belongs to a very 
early form of language, although it is a law of change 
in full operation at the present day. As soon as 
sounds were become consolidated into words,^ they 
could be added to each other for the purpose of more 
precise definition ; and a sound that successfully de- 
fined one thing would readily be applied to define 
other things. Hence it results that these '^definers" 
would be among the first vocables to sink into mere 
conventionalities ; and this satisfactorily accounts for 
the fact that what are termed " demonstrative bases" 
(i.e, pronouns, &c.) are among the most petrified 
fossils of language. 

A further stage in the development of language 
would be marked by the addition of word to word 
with the object of qualifying or extending the mean- 
ing. These true compounds could be formed at a time 
anterior to the separation of verbal, nominal, and de- 
monstrative stems. Human speech must have passed 
through such stages before it reached even the bi- 
literal form of Arabic bases ; because^ as we think the 
present inquiry will demonstrate that no more than one 

* More will be said anon about the origin of words. It is, how- 
ever, convenient to state here that so keen a thinker as A. W. von 
Schlegel had no doubt on the subject. He says, "As regards inven- 
tion, I find no difficulty in that either, since in order to comprehend 
tlie absolute origin of language, we have no choice between having 
recourse to a miracle, and conceding to mankind an instinctive 
power of inventing language." — Trans. JRoi/. Soc. Lit. U.K. vol. ii. 
p. 433. 



22 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

letter can be safely allowed as the base of any word, it 
must follow that a base containing even two letters is 
the product of combination. The word " letter'' here, 
and elsewhere in this book, means the uttered 
sound, and not the written character representing the 
sound. 

Upon arriving at the stage just spoken of language 
became grammatical (see p. 29), that is^ the know- 
ledge of the origin of vocal symbols was entirely lost, 
and a conventional meaning existed for a number of 
sounds sufficient to express the simple wants of a 
primitive people. Fresh sounds doubtless would ob- 
tain currency, but from that time forward language 
would mainly develop by the combination of existing 
vocables, and by their application to new uses. It has 
been long ago known that the complex of modern 
speech arose from a very limited number of bases, — 
about two or three hundred stems proving a sufficient 
foundation on which to erect the Chinese and Semitic 
dictionaries respectively; and Professor Max Miiller 
conjectures that some similar number will be found to 
be sufficient in the case of Aryan words. This conclu- 
sion has been arrived at by a comparison of words 
with actual bases ; but, if we were to consider mere 
possibilities, then only eight or ten bases, by mutual 
combinations, would produce an infinitely greater 
number of words than is contained in the richest of 
languages. The actual number of words, then, in 
every language being much smaller than the possible 
combinations of the smallest number of bases ever 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

likely to be seriously proposed for them, we have no 
difficulty in believing that when man's vocal utter- 
ances settled into conventionalities, the subsequent 
development could be effected by a mere word-building 
process. This view is further strengthened by con- 
sidering the natural disinclination to indulge in useless 
toil. It is easier to combine two vocables together as 
attributive and nominal, than it is to cast about for a 
new and appropriate vocal symbol. A people possess- 
ing equivalents for big and man would be more dis- 
posed to place one before the other, than to invent 
the new term giant. So, doubtless, our remote an- 
cestors, starting from the sound i — move, accom- 
panied its pronunciation with a rattling of the tongue 
to indicate rapidity, and so produced the form ri = 
go quickly. It has been long ago remarked that the 
letter r gives a sense of rapidity to a vast number of 
Aryan words ; and the quivering of the tongue upon 
the palate is certainly the simplest and most natural 
way of expressing rapidity by sound.^ The word rf, 
then, would be an intensive, and, as familiarity breeds 
contempt, by usage it would gradually lose its inten- 
sive power, and at last be used as synonymous with 
i, ^go/ as we find, in Sanskrit, to have been actually 
the case. The sound pa, produced by a puff of breath 

^ Once, the great Talma, who was to the French stage what J. 
Kemble was to the English, said to one of us : " If you shut up 
your ears when we speak, keeping them open only to hear the buzz, 
you will remark that there is a continual vibratory sound through 
that litera canina (R), as Persius used to call it." 



24 LINGUISTIC OEIGINES. 

throTigli the lips, would aptly convey an idea Viike forth ^ 

forward^ &c., and, as a matter of fact, the letters p^ v, 

f (which mutually interchange) enter into a large 

number of words having such a meaning. !N'ow, by 

simply prefixing this sound pa to ri we orally describe 

the idea forward-go or move-on. It seems certain 

that such was the origin of the Sanskrit base pri^ to 

goforth^ expand; and of the Sanskrit preposition jora, 

the Greek Trpo, the Latin per, the Teutonic /or, forth^ 

fore^ &C.5 &c. 

These stages of formation had been traversed before 
the records of language we possess came into being ; 
even the Egyptian inscriptions, the most solid bases 
of antiquity, are written with words in the main of 
settled formation, but which, as will be shown anon, 
throw much light on the process just described. 
Egyptian bases are biliteral in form, but so constantly 
lose one of the letters in combining with each other, 
that special inquiry may reduce them all to a few 
uniliteral primitives. Here it will be sufficient to re- 
mark that the words of the Hieroglyphic language 
were modified by many adjuncts or servile letters, the 
origin and meaning of some of which have been traced. 
The letters d, r, and m, are of this class. By their 
insertion bases are modified materially in their mean- 
ings as well as forms. Thus, by way of example, han, 
to incline, becomes Duhdn and 'Rohdn, Ho stand.' Of 
these two serviles, the r is derived from an indepen- 
dent base aRi or en, ' to do ;' and the d is from du, * to 
give,' a base found also in the word mit, * the hand,' that 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

which gives ; the t in this last word being also servile. 
The servile letter m is from mw, 'to give/ and is simi- 
larly used. Thus the forms ^uhan and iB.ohdn mean^ 
literally, ^'to give an incline," and mthan is a true 
causal meaning ''to make incline." Now when we 
find that it is possible to trace the servile letters of a 
language up to substantive vocables, we have actual 
demonstration of the reasoning before advanced. 

Eeside the addition of word to word so as to change 
the meaning, a love of Exaggeration is so natural to 
the human breast, that it will occasion no surprize to 
find its operation constituting a law in the building 
up of words. The meaning of a word can be exag- 
gerated in two ways, (1) by the addition of other 
words which repeat the idea in another form, giving 
rise to such locutions as hurly-burly^ chitter- chatter^ 
and to such still more demonstrative words as the 
Hindi tan-badan = the body, in which both tan and 
badan have separately the sense of '' body," and their 
combination only produces a bigger word. We say 
to children in France, ^'Allez faire do-do ^^ {dormire^ 
Latin) . 

This principle underlies the formation of the re- 
duplicate preterite in Sanskrit and Greek, and such 
words as did ( = do-do) in English. IN'ations with 
more primitive mental organism than our own avail 
themselves largely of this method of intensifying. 
Thus in India at the present day achchhd achchhd 
means 'Wery good," dur dur^ *Wery far," and so 



26 LINGUISTIC OEIGINES. 

on.* In the same way in ancient Sanskrit gri^ to swallow, 
was first fortified with a sibilant (by the same process 
that converts run into rush), and assumed the form 
gra-s ; an asper still further intensified it, and it 
became ghas. This last form when doubled, as in 
the preterite, by common Indian euphonic laws, be- 
comes ja-ghas^ or, when rapidly pronounced, jaksh. 
Hence this verb m.dkes jaghasa^ '^he swallowed," and 
jakshuk, '^ they swallowed/' The habit of exaggera- 
tion caused the idea of reduplication to be lost in the 
case of this among other verbs. It became more com- 
mon to say eat-eatj or eat-up, than to say eat only. 
In consequence of this the form jaksh was ultimately 
treated as a primitive word, and we find it separately 
conjugated, as jakshiti, ^' he is eating," jakshishyati, 
'' he shall eat;" and in the preterite it is reduplicated 
Jbr the second time, and becomes Jajaksha, '•' he did 
eat." 

This process of intensifying words, and when they 
become familiar re-intensifying them — which we are 
able to trace in the Sanskrit, because so many stages of 
the literature of that language have been preserved, — 
has been a powerful engine in the operation of those 
changes which make the discovery of primitive bases 
so difficult in our day. But through all its diversified 
forms the onomatop is to be found, living on through 

* The French, also, rarely content themselves with one oui, they 
prefer a series, oui^ oui, oui ; and in this case, also, the sense of exag- 
geration is lost. 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

all changes like the vital principle animating the 
organic creature, and from the gri of the Eig-Yeda 
to the modern English gree-dij, the sound gd, sugges- 
tive at once of the throat by which alone it can be 
produced, is for ever present to attest the impulse 
which first stamped this ovoyia with sense. 

The second method of exaggeration is easier, and 
no doubt more primitive, consisting of the simple 
expedient of repeating the word itself. As instances, 
we may cite the words Qoroe, the throat, Fr. GovGe, 
It. GorGo, Germ. GurGel ; and to GugGle or GurGle, 
Fr. gIougIou, Swiss GunGeln, Modern Greek KXovKXov. 
Both these words are formed by a repetition of the base 
found in Sanskrit under the form gri or gal, to eat, 
the parent of gala, the throat, Lat. gula, Fr. gueule, 
and all the thousands of derivatives which arose in 
boundless profusion from this highly suggestive sound. 
So fully recognised is this method of repetition in 
Sanskrit that every base in the language admits of 
reduplication in a frequentative or intensive sense. 
The rule being general, it would be useless to cite 
special examples; and the words gorge and gurgle 
are mentioned merely to show that, like the Bourgeois 
Gentilhomme, we are continually performing a feat 
without knowing it.^ Similarly, the Hindus say dug- 

* Numerous other such words readily suggest themselves, as the 
Greek '^/op-'-fO^, 70,0-70/0/^0^, '^/ap-'yapiar/jLog^ 'yap-'yapeiov, 7o/>-7vcr/io?, 
rap-^facjjia (a gurgling fountain in Boeotia) ; the Latin, gur-ges, 
gur-gustium^ &c. ; the French gar-gote, gar-gotier^ gar-gouille, 
gar-gousse ; the English gar-gle, &c. 



28 LINaUISTIC OEIGINES. 

dugdnd^ " to beat a drum," khilkhildnd, " to burst out 
laughing," lakJilakhdnd^ '' to gasp, pant," &c., &c.; and 
the Arabs say, taftafat, "weakness," sinsin, ''thirst," 
dardar, " eating," &c. &c. 

We will now, however, seek the assistance of those 
marvellous old hieroglyphs of Egypt, and trace this 
phenomenon to a conscious process. The well-known 
Egyptologist, M. G. Maspero, says,^ "Eepetition is the 
simplest manner of increasing the sense of a root ; 
and, therefore, in Egyptian, as well as in most lan- 
guages, radical repetition is sometimes intended to 
mark an increase of the action, q^n, to beat, deve- 
lops itself into q^nq^n, to give somehodi/ a sound 
thrashing. But this is rarely the case : repetition 
ordinarily is a modification of the word without any 
modification of the idea, s^ns^n, to breathe^ b^nb% to 
springs have no more value than s®N, b^n : they are 
both of them mere variations of the words, correspond- 
ing to no particular shade of variety in the fundamental 
thought. The sole difference between them is that 
s^N is a monosyllable, while s^es^n is a dissyllable." 
This is another way of stating, and of proving, our 
proposition that words are repeated so as to intensify 
their meaning, and that a certain amount of usage 
evaporates the exaggeration originally intended. The 
laws of Compression then operate, and pave the way 
for fresh inflation. The Egyptian words just cited 
may be compared with the following from Sanskrit : 

a " The Academy," vol. iii. p. 377. 



INTRODUCTION. 29 

gam = go, jangam = go repeatedly ; pi = drink, 
pepi ^ = drink excessively — and so on, every Sanskrit 
base being subject to a similar exaggeration. 

A third method of combining word-sounds is that 
intended to express the relations which words bear to 
each other. This is the principle underlying all gram- 
matical inflexion and syntactical arrangement, and is 
one of the most obscure processes in the science of 
language. Fortunately it is not necessary to enter 
into much detail, as the result of the study of com- 
parative philology has produced a pretty Tgeneral 
impression among scholars, that unquestionably all 
grammatical formatives originated in independent 
vocables. 

Prof Max Miiller is very clear on this point : ^^We 
know that grammatical terminations, as they are now 
called, were originally independent words, and had 
their own purpose and meaning." ^ Again : '' We 
are accustomed to the idea of grammatical termina- 
tions modifying the meaning of words. Bui words 
can be modified by words only ; and though in the 
present state of our science it would be too much to 
say that all grammatical terminations have been traced 
back to original independent words, ?o many of them 
have, even in cases where only a single letter was left, 
that we may well lay it down as a rule that all formal 
elements of language were originally substantial." *" 

a Pepieh&s passed entirely into the French " avoir la pepie" = to 
feel the want of drinking. 

b Science of Language, Part I. p. 202. «= Ibid., p. 215. 



30 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

Such are the views of a scholar at the head of the 
modern school of philology, so that as we also arrive at 
the same opinion by independent processes, it must be 
admitted that the theory has a claim to be received as 
established fact. Let us now quote M. Maspero on 
the working of this law as illustrated in the develop- 
ment of the Egyptian language. That learned scholar 
thus writes:* "Egyptian roots are not, properly 
speaking, nouns, adjectives, or verbs :^ they express 
the idea independent of grammatical category, and 
may, according to their relative position, play the 
same part that nouns^ adjectives, and verbs, play in our 
modern languages. Thus v/aa may signify great ^ 
greatness, to he great; s^m, to hear {to obey), 
obedience, obedient, and are therefore not definite 
nouns, adjectives, or verbs, but only possibilities of 
nouns, adjectives, or verbs. Their grammatical cate- 
gory resides not in their material form, but in the 
mind of him who speaks or hears. Hence it comes 
that the Egyptians possess nothing which we may 
say corresponds exactly to our declinations or con- 
jugations. By dint of personal pronouns affixed as 
signs of the subject to the roots of appellative value, 

a " The Academy," vol. iii. p. 378. This excellent journal always 
gives the last results of modern scholarship, and its articles are, 
therefore, of even greater authority on the subjects treated than 
are the works of the scholars who write them. 

^ The same is also true of Chinese and Sanskrit roots. As the 
Egyptian language is Semitic, and the Chinese Turanian, we have 
thus the oldest forms of each family of language agreeing in the 
power to be ascribed to their primitive bases. 



INTRODUCTION. 31 

they contrived to build small phrases m^r-a, m^r-k, 
by which they devolved the possession of the idea ex- 
pressed by the root upon one of the three persons, but 
without creating any definite grammatical category. 
M^R-A, M^R-K, signify, after a general fashion, love- 
o'mine^ love-d' thine ; but we were not right to in- 
terpret them, when taken isolatedly, by I love, thou 
lovestj more than by mi/ love, thy love : it is only their 
position in a sentence which determines the special 
value we are obliged to give them for the nonce, and 
enables us to see whether they are to be rendered by 
one of our substantives or by one of our verbs. 
M^R-A AT^w-A is translated, ^I love my father;' 
and we say that m^r-a is the first person of a verb, 
the regimen of which is at^w-a. But m^r-a and 
AT^w-A are two locutions constructed on exactly the 
same pattern, and which, when isolated, express the 
attribution to the first person of the general ideas love, 
father ; being united in the same proposition, they be- 
come the two terms of an equation, m^r-a = at^w-a, 
love-o^ mine =Jather-o^ mine, where the relative po- 
sition of the factors induces us to bestow upon 
M^R-A the quality verb, / love, while in another 
equation, maa nut^r m^r-a, God sees my love, we 
would be obliged to give it the substantive value of 
my love, m^r-a being alike a substantive or a verb, 
may, in its verbal impersonations, denote the past as 
well as the present, and the future as well as the past. 
The Egyptians contented themselves with indicating 
the fact of the action being done, and with naming the 



32 LINGUISTIC OKIGINES. 

doing person ; they left to the hearer's or reader^s mind 
the care of ascertaining, according to the tenor of the 
phrase, the moment of duration in which the action is, 
has been, or will be present." 

M. Maspero also describes a further development, 
by which the Egyptians gave a more definite character 
to their words. Four roots, «, jo, ^, n^ when vocalized 
with the vowel u^ were used to give a verbal signifi- 
cation to bases, but when vocalized with the letter a 
produced forms with a power similar to that of the 
definite article. These prefixes were used by no 
means indiscriminately, though we need not here be 
minute in our description of their grammatical func- 
tions. It is enough, by way of illustration, to say 
that Taz°D-A or Ta-A z^d represented '^ my word," 
while Tuz°D-A or tu-a z^'n meant '* I speak ;^' so also 
NaAE-A=*'my deeds/' and unar-a='^I do." The 
personal pronoun a=^^I, me, my," can, as we have 
just seen, change its place in Egyptian. It can, in- 
deed, be used along with the auxiliary in three ways : 
by being added (1) to the auxiliary itself, au-a m^r, 
the heing-ofme love = Hove ; (2) to the verb, au m^r-a, 
the being love-qf-me^I love ; (3) both to the auxiliary 
and to the verb, au-a m^e-a ; the being-of-me love-of- 
me-=^I love. 

We shall only touch upon one more point of 
Egyptian grammar, and that is the evolution of a 
participial form. The auxiliary uN, to exist ^ (curiously 
like the Sanskrit an^ to breathe, the base of an-imus^ 
&c.) was used, without the vocalizmg helpmate ?/, also 



INTRODUCTION. 33 

to express existence. In this form it followed verbal 
stems and gave to them the sense of participles. Thus 
uN-7^ AMEN meant '' the being which is Ammon," 
or "Ammon's being;" and un-?z-a= ^' the being 
which is me," or " my being." The use of the 
auxiliary expressed an insistence on the idea which 
enabled it to perform the office of a past tense. An 
idea of '^ possession " underlies all verbal inflection — 
"I walk ^' means that the walking is mine, "I shall 
eat " that the eating will be mine, and so on. In the 
same way an insistence on actual possession would 
fairly convey the idea of the past tense, that is, the 
possession which is possession. Therefore the form 
uN-7i-A meant not only my being but also / was (or 
"the being actually being mine"), in the same way 
M^R-A, loving of me, or / love, becomes much stronger 
in the form m^r-tz-a, the loving being {actually) mine, 
or / loved. The future tense was formed in a similar 
rational manner, by the addition of the base R, to do; 
thus, Au-A-R M^R = lam to do the loving, or I shall love. 

Theory is quite superfluous after such lucid facts. 
We need no longer speculate on the possible origin of 
grammatical formatives when the whole process is 
made manifest by the structure of the venerable 
language preserved on the monuments of Egypt. 

It will, we think, be interesting to show that the 
very processes found in Egyptian, and which may have 
seemed somewhat mysterious to the reader, are to bo 
seen in operation at the present day in Turanian 
languages. The construction of these languages allows 

D 



84 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. . 

their formations to be more easily separated and 
examined than is the case with the more highly or- 
ganized Aryan forms of speech. Not to weary with 
details we will content ourselves with an instance from 
Turkish. This language possesses no verb equivalent 
to the English to have^ to express which relationship 
the Turks employ an impersonal verb var=^^ existing," 
precisely as is the case in Egyptian. This base var 
is joined with the genitive and a form of the verb dur- 
mak=^^ to stand, to be, to remain." Thus we get 
binim-var-dar ^^of me there is the being "=/ have ; 
hinim-var-edi, *^ofme there was the being"==/ ^ac?, 
and so on, in striking analogy to the method of the 
hieroglyphs. This impersonal verb var is to be de- 
duced from the regular infinitive ol-mak, * to be,' by 
the common change of / into r, the proof of this alliance 
being found in the fact that, in the future and im- 
perative, the regular verb is used : thus, binim-ol-ur, 
"of me it will hej^^=I shall have ; binim-ol-is-un, "of 
me let it be."^ The change of ol into va7' is not so 
great as at first sight may appear. Another verb from 
Turkish will show how the change came about, — the 
infinitive ^' to beat " though written or-mak is pro- 
nounced vour-mak. The fact, however, with which 
we are mainly concerned, and which is perfectly clear, 
is that the idea of possession is expressed in both 
Turkish and Egyptian by the insertion^ as a verbal 

* The verb to have or Jiold is almost peculiar to Europe. Indian 
languages supply its place in precisely the same way as the Turkish 
does. 



INTRODUCTION. 36 

inflexion, of a base of which the primary sense is 
" being." The French say phraseologically C'est a moi 
to convey the same idea. 

The Chinese language is not chosen for illustration, 
because, as is well known, it contains nothing that at 
all approaches our ideas of an inflection. It is an 
interesting example of the theory of Survivals found 
in language, one perfect word being modified by the 
juxtaposition of another perfect word, just as we say 
was the case originally in all other languages. 

In the preceding remarks we have confined ourselves 
to a few examples illustrating the formation of verbal 
inflexions, because they are among the most obscure of 
all the changes that words have undergone. The per- 
sonal terminations in most languages can readily be 
referred to the personal pronouns. In Semitic gram- 
mars rules are actually given for the modification of 
personal pronouns so as to fit them to become the ter- 
minations of verbs. In Turanian languages, also, 
apocopated forms of these pronouns are regular verbal 
affixes ; and in the Aryan languages the same thing 
can be recognized, though with greater difficulty. 
When we see how an idea of personality is imparted 
to Semitic and Turanian bases, there can be no longer 
a doubt that the termination * w for the first person 
of all Sanskrit tenses, and the tenses of so many other 
Aryan languages, is identical with the 'm' found in 
all those languages as the pronominal me^ my^ mine^ 
Greek €-/xo9, Latin nieum. Span, and Ital. mi-o, French 
moij Persian marij Hindi main^ Sanskrit m«m, &c. 

d2 



36 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

So again, the termination *t' of the second person 
singular is the base upon which tliee^ thou^ Latin 
te^ French te^ Persian tu^ Hindt tain^ Sanskrit twam, 
&c., have been erected. The personal terminations 
blend so completely with the stems in Aryan languages 
that it is impossible to separate them more distinctly 
than in the indefinite way above given. The dot 
before and after the t and m may be taken to stand 
for some unknown vocalizing element, which may 
have preceded or followed the consonant. 

What we have just advanced about conjugation is 
equally applicable to declension; but on this point 
we will content ourselves with citing Professor M. 
Miiller. He says, '' Originally declension could not 
have been anything but the composition of a noun 
with some other word expressive of number and case."* 

As it is not our object to trace grammatical forms 
to their origin, but only to adduce such facts as will 
support the general laws we enounce, the foregoing 
details are amply sufiicient for the purpose. We hope 
our illustrations, and the authority of Professor Max 
Miiller, will have satisfactorily proved the fact that 
the relations which words bear to each other are ex- 
pressed by the addition of word to word, and are not 
the result of any mysterious or incomprehensible 
process. 

The foregoing will be enough to show the existence 
of combining principles in the formation of language ; 
and but few words are necessary to establish the com- 

* Science of Language, Part I. p. 205. 



INTRODUCTION. 37 

pressibility of compounded sounds. This latter law of 
growth is, indeed, so patent that it has never, to the 
writers' knowledge, been doubted. It is, nevertheless, 
a process of much interest to the student of language, 
as it affords historical evidence of undoubted truth, 
whence certain laws of permutation may be deduced, 
by which hypothetical forms of words can be con- 
structed carrying the inquirer back, logically and scien- 
tifically, to primitive onomatopic bases. Home Tooke 
spoke of what is here called a law of compression as 
arising from a desire to abbreviate the labour of utter- 
ance ; we shall, however, be able to show that it is not 
due solely to this cause. '' There are not only signs of 
sounds," says Home Tooke, ^' but signs of those signs 
one under the other in a continual progression." 

It will, perhaps, be sufficient if we mark two fairly 
distinct laws of compression : 1. Phonetic corruption ; 
2. Metastasis. 

Words are in a perpetually unstable condition from 
the operation of phonetic corruption. All the vast 
machinery of social intercourse, of schools, and of 
literature, is impotent to stop the powers of nature * ; 
the Word passes on from mouth to mouth for ever sub- 
ject to the varying aspects of the speakers' mental 
constitutions. The speakers are quite unconscious of 
the changes which they themselves are operating. 
They hear the word and think that they repeat it ac- 

■ Since this book has been in the press, Dr. Fitzedw.ard Hall 
has illustrated this truth with remarkable clearness, in his work on 
" Modern EngHsh." 



38 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

curately, but yet unconsciously modify it. In early 
times no effort was spent on exactitude, and no insti- 
tutions preserved traditions of what once was ; accord- 
ingly words then changed more rapidly than is the 
case in these days. The long word folium^ found in 
the Latin trifolium^ dwindles down to fl in the French 
trejle; the Sanskrit madhya, Latin medium^ Greek jmeVo?, 
French milieu^ English middle^ sinks to mi in the French 
a mi'Corps, half-length. We have elsewhere adduced 
reason for believing that the letter jT in the word lift is 
all that remains of the words above, over, up, and that 
the word lij^t meant originally lay-up, the jp undergoing 
a change similar to that which educes the French cuivre 
out of copper. It must not be supposed that we 
imagine for a moment that the French word cuivre 
arises from abortive attempts to pronounce the English 
word copper ; on the contrary, it is our firm convic- 
tion that there is much less of this kind of derivation 
in the world than is generally supposed. It seems 
almost certain that no language whatever was ever 
derived from any other language by a relationship 
akin to that of mother and daughter. The spoken 
languages of to-day had their original at the parent 
fount of universal speech quite independent of classical 
mediation. The dialects of the dominant tribes in 
the peninsulas of Greece and Italy acquired a ficti- 
tious importance from the martial conquests of their 
speakers, and from the literature clothed in their dress ; 
but it must not be forgotten that other ethnically 
cognate tribes inhabited both Greece and Italy along 



INTEODUCTION. 39 

with those who finally gained the political superiority. 
These independent colonies never derived their lan- 
guages from what we call Greek and Latin ; although, 
after their absorption, their languages were necessarily 
modified by the genius of their masters. The difi'er- 
ent dialects of modern Italian and modern Greek 
carry the indelible marks of the independence of 
these primitive colonies, and are thus of equal value 
to the philologist with their more renowned rivals. If 
the dialects of Italian are not derived from Latin still 
less can the speech of the Goths, Vandals, Franks, 
Gauls, Lusitanians, &c., be derived from that language. 
The commonly prevalent teaching on this matter is, 
therefore, unsustainable. 

As a remarkable instance of phonetic corruption 
let us take the English copula and. In German 
this word is written und ; in Dutch the d is dropped 
and it becomes en; in Latin the n is lost, and 
it is pronounced et ; in French, though still written 
et, it is sounded like ay ; in Italian the last con- 
sonant is rejected, and it is written e while preserving 
the French sound ; and^ finally, in Spanish the sound 
is further modified to the vowel sound of y. Thus 
we see that the word and by phonetic corruption 
alone becomes y. But what is this word and ? and 
whence does it derive its sense of copulation ? To 
answer these questions we must trace it through its 
Indian forms. In Bengali we find the same idea 
expressed by o, and in Hindi by au and axir. In 
these words no trace is found of the medial /i, and the 



40 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

vowel has the u sound as in the German und. But the 
Hindi form au or awralso means "other," and through 
this sense points to its derivation from the old Sans- 
krit word antara^ which means '^ different, separate." 
The word aur is a phonetic corruption of antara^ just 
as the English or comes from other. Thus we see that 
the word and is an abbreviated form of the Sanskrit 
antara^ Gothic anthar, Anglo-Saxon o])er^ and that its 
original intention was to mark a difference between 
two objects. And it is really a sense of difference 
that we recognize in the word and. " This and that " 
means, etjmologically, "this other that," i.e., "this 
thing with that other thing." The word other^ as 
will be perceived, preserves both the form and sense 
of the parent better than its rival and. 

It is almost superfluous to prove that or and other 
were originally the same, still we may as well cite a 
case : thus, in Higden's Polichronicon we read^ "for ]?is 
nyjt I schal assaye whej^er I schal overcome o|7er be 
overcome." We also read, " I doujte whef>er I schulde 
be wro]?e ef>er no ; " which shows that either is another 
form of the same word ; as are also the compounds 
whether and neither. 

Mr. Wedgwood with much ingenuity argues that 
and is a possible form of even^ and was intended to 
place two objects on a level, and so mark their con- 
nectedness ; but the foregoing and following remarks 
will, we think, show that such a view is untenable. 
The word antara is also found in Sanskrit deprived 
of its nasal, in the word itara^ and this latter word 



INTRODUCTION. 41 

has exactly the same meaning and use as the former. 
But itara reveals its origin, because in this shape 
we are able to resolve it into the two parts, i and 
tara, the first being the proximate definite explained 
at the end of the Praefamen, and the second being the 
Sanskrit noun expressing " passage, crossing," derived 
from a verbal base, tri^ "to cross over." The same 
noun, tara, also forms the termination of the com- 
parative degree of adjectives in Aryan languages ; as 
the Persian bih-tar, English bet-ter, Sanskrit 'punya- 
tara^ English pur-er ; but it dwindles, by phonetic 
corruption, to the letter r only in such words as the 
Latin melio-r, and the English mo-re. As the sign 
of comparison it means " beyond," and this is also the 
sense which the same base, tri, bears in the Latin 
prefix trans-, and the Erench tres. Hence we see 
that i-tara means " beyond this," a very rational ex- 
pression for the ideas still conveyed by other, and, &c. 
The primitive meaning of tri is, however, "cross 
over ;" — it is a compound formed of •^•, the remote 
definite=" there " + n=" go," and is, therefore, equi- 
valent to " go there," i. e., " motion to that place." 
This analysis satisfactorily accounts for its use in 
another sense, as in the word antar-dla, Sanskrit ; 
inter-vallum, Latin ; inter-val, English^ for where this 
crosses to that there must be m^er-vcning space. A 
similar line of reasoning shows the origin of such 
Sanskrit words as any a, other ; antra, intestine ; antar, 
within ; anta, the end ; antima, last, &c., &c. ; and the 
Latin inter-us, inter-ior, alt-er, ulter-ior, ult-ra, 



42 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

and the thousands of derivatives that will readily 
suggest themselves to the reader. 

The changes of which we have been speaking are 
caused by the attrition of use, and arise, in some 
respects, from a disinclination to take more trouble 
than is necessary to make oneself understood. It is 
a law of abbreviation very manifestly marked in the 
language of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs. The Egyytians, 
it seems, had an affection for monosyllables, so that 
the process of intensifying by reduplication, though 
gratifying a natural love of exaggeration, was irksome 
in the utterance. " To overcome that difficulty," — we 
again quote M. Maspero, — "the Egyptians had no 
resource left but to drop one of the three last radicals, 
the first being always respected. Thus, q^bq^b becomes 
a^QB, by dropping the second radical ; q^bb and qb^b, 
by dropping the third ; q^bq or qb^q, by dropping the 
fourth; so that each biliteral monosyllable, being 
raised to the square, turns out to be the common stock 
for three triliteral monosyllables, all of them signifying 
the same thing." 

Phonetic corruptions such as those above described 
have played an important part in the development of 
language. By their means, primitive bases, in origi- 
nating derivatives, have lost their first form ; the altered 
form, in possibly an altered sense, has given birth to 
new derivatives yet further departing from the parent 
type; and these last, becoming tertiary bases, have 
produced other derivatives, able in their turn to carry 
on the process of development in ever- widening circles. 



INTRODUCTION. 43 

One thing these changes impress upon our minds in 
an especial way, and that is the unwisdom of the 
clamour made by some philologist about the essential 
distinction between termination and base. It is 
abundantly evident that in no language haye the 
ultimate bases been as yet discovered, and this fact 
has caused even the best scholars to draw an arbitrary 
line at a certain period in the development of lan- 
guage, and to assert that the bases then existing 
were part of man's nature, and among his ingenerate 
attributes. Such an idea is pure mythology. Our 
researches lead to the conviction that the primitive 
bases exist now only as single letters ; whenever two 
letters, certainly whenever two consonants, are joined 
together, there we have the remains of two or more 
bases. The number of these bases must be very 
small, — they are all contained in the alphabet of the 
universe, — and will in each case be found to be the 
natural expression of a material fact, that is, a true 
onomatop. 

The desire for abbreviating the labour of speak- 
ing would of itself suffice to make an originally 
homogeneous language break up into rapidly diverging 
sections. The impulses of man's nature being ever 
the same, we can readily understand that long before 
historic time began, the whole form of language had 
been repeatedly changed, broken down, and renewed, 
leaving behind no traces of its former states. But 
the same being operating with the same means, and 
propelled by the same desires, would, however, con- 



44 LINGUISTIC ORiaiNES. 

tinually remodel the same natural forces to a like 
result, and thus how repeatedly soever the elements 
were combined and dissolved, they would be for ever 
present, awaiting only the labour of the scientific 
analyst to resolve the compounded mass, and to separate 
it into primary atoms. JlttXovv opaxTLv oi fxadovres 
ypdfxiJLaTa. 

The complete fluidity of language was brought 
to an end by civilization. The utterly savage state 
would allow of any amount of diversity, so long as 
the needs of the passing moment were subserved ; but 
the first approach to civilization implies community of 
interest, with some amount of fixedness in occupation, 
in abode, in ideas, and therefore fixedness in vocal 
symbols. 

Metastasis is another form of phonetic corruption. 
By this process the letters composing a word are 
not rubbed off or blended into new sounds ; they 
remain in the word, and are changed only in position. 
After metastasis has taken place, however, a word is 
still liable to ordinary phonetic corruption, so that 
in the course of time its identity is completely de- 
stroyed. This law of change is the most obstructive 
to the student of language ; for as long as the letters 
remain in their natural order they can be tracked 
through an indefinitely long series of permutations, 
but if any part of the series is traversed by metastasis, 
the clue to the labyrinth is gone, and is only recovered 
by a lucky hazard. Instances of genuine metastasis 



INTRODUCTION. 45 

are happily somewhat rare, but are sufficiently nume- 
rous to prove their undoubted existence. Such are 
the following. : — 

Lat. sTecto becoming in Gr. aKell-TOfiai, 



Eng. 


POT „ 


,, Germ. Tovf, 


Eng. 


BUTt „ 


„ Eng. TUB, 


Eng. 


BUTt^ „ 


,, Lat. TUBUS, TUBa, 


Eng. 


Behli/ „ 


„ Germ. LezB. 


Lat. 


'FOLium „ 


„ Eng. LeaF. 



A milder form of metastasis is frequently present, 
giving rise to duplicate forms in the same language, 
such as hlahher developed from babbler, board from 
broad, bird from the older bridde, and bocla from 
bloca the Provencal for a knob. In Sanskrit words 
ending in ri regularly change that termination to ir 
in the past participle ; thus kri, to scatter, becomes 
ktrna ; gri, to eat, becomes girna, and so on. 

These metastases arise in some part from carelessness, 
and in some part from physical peculiarities. We have 
known boys continually to say ^^regually " for ^'regu- 
larly," and be apparently quite unconscious of the 
difference. We have here nothing to do with the 
cause, we only chronicle the fact; and the single 
example of spec- becoming cr/ce7r- is sufficient to prove it. 

Words change their meanings as well as their shapes^ 
and a change in meaning frequently occasions some 

* These words, pot, lutt, proceed from the base pa or pt, 'to 
suck,' as is shown by their Hindi forms pipd, a barrel or butt, and 
pipt, a tube or pipe. This is seen clearly in the expression " a 
pipe of wine." 



46 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

changes in form which in the original sense could 
never have taken place. The science of language 
concerns itself as much with the meanings of sounds 
as with the sounds themselves^ hence it follows that 
what operates such changes of a meaning is a law 
in the development of language. We think that all 
such changes of meaning arise from Metaphor, that 
disposition which man invariably manifests to describe 
that for which vocables are wanting by such words as 
he has at command, — speaking of the analogic unknown 
in the likeness of the known. 

Dr. Daniel Wilson, in his work on Prae-Historic 
Man, brings before our minds a remarkable historical 
instance of the development of language by the appli- 
cation of existing vocables to new objects. " In the 
slow migration of the human family," he says, ''from 
the great central hives, language imperceptibly adapted 
itself to the novel requirements of man. But, with the 
discovery of America, a new era began in the history 
of migration. In its novel scenes language was at 
fault. It seemed as if language had its work to do 
anew, as when first framed amid the life of Eden. 
The same has been the experience of every new band 
of invading colonists on its first arrival in the new 
world. That its English settlers, after occupying the 
continent for three centuries, instead of inventing root- 
words wherewith to designate plants and animals, as 
new to them as the nameless living' creatures were to 
Adam in Paradise, apply in an irregular and unscien- 
tific manner the names of British and European flora 
and fauna. Thus the name of the English partridge 



INTRODUCTION. 47 

is applied to one American tetranoid {Tetras umhrel- 
lus) ; the pheasant to another [Tetra cupido); and 
that of the familiar British warbler, the robin, to the 
^Turdus migratorius, a totally different American 
thrush^ So also E. A. Eyre, says, ^' When an Austra- 
lian sees an object unknown to him, he does not invent 
a name for it, but immediately gives it a name drawn 
from its resemblance to some known object." 

This natural propensity to apply an existing vocable 
to a new idea can be illustrated by the Sanskrit base 
previously cited (p. 26). Gri, to swallow with the 
throat, easily began to express the idea of eating in 
general ; and as eating implies seizing with the mouth, 
as an animal does its prey, so this mouth-seizing 
would gradually come to include seizing of any kind. 
And this is undoubtedly the origin of the form grahh, 
"to seize," found in the Rig-Yeda,^ and which still 
lives in the vulgar English grab, to grip, or grasp ; 
but which was softened into grih, '' to take," and still 
further modified to hri, ^*to convey," in the later 
forms of Sanskrit. This word has even reversed its 
meaning, as is seen by the Gaelic gabh, ^^ to take ;" 
the Gothic giban, the English give (Wedgwood). 
The vocable for seizing, after being applied to the 
idea of conveyance in general, gradually began to 
express every species of hauling and drawing, from 
the ploughed marks or furrows on the land to the lines 



* A collection of 1017 hymns, in Sanskrit, addressed to the 
powers of nature. This is the oldest book in any Aryan language. 



48 LINGUISTIC ORIGmES. 

on a tablet or canyas, and so originated the Greek 
form 7pa^ct), the Latin graphicus, English, graphic ; 
Greek ypa4>k, a drawing-pencil or pen ; ypacplov, a 
writing style; y/hence the French greffe^ stylet, and 
greffe, an office where writings are engrossed and 
deposited ; also, in agriculture, the insertion of a small 
twig; like a stylet, in another tree is called grafting. 
Now the word bio-graph?/ would neyer suggest the 
idea of eating to modern ears ; but the aboye shows 
how simple is the process which has produced so arti- 
ficial a word. 

When gi^ahh or graph assumes an initial sibilant, a 
yery common change, it becomes scribere, in which the 
crib is clearly the Greek ypacf). From scribere proceed, 
of course, scriba and scri-nium, and such metaphorical 
terms as de-scribe ; also the English scribble and write; 
for w in this last word represents a guttural letter, just 
as worm is identical with the Hindi kirm^ and the 
Sanskrit Icrimi. 

As the eyolution of ypd(j)0) from gri may, by some, be 
thought purely speculatiye, we will adduce one or two 
instances equally remarkable and more patent to the 
sceptic. When we re-cover our heads the term em- 
ployed seems exactly to suit the action ; but when we 
recover lost property it is not so apparent that our 
intention is to bring the article again under the shelter 
of our protection ; and when we recover from sickness 
the last thread of connexion snaps. Here we haye a 
common word, without the smallest change of form, 
assuming three yery different meanings, caused solely 



INTRODUCTION. , 49 

by the operation of this law of Metaphor. But the 
word re-cover in any sense is now far removed from its 
basic signification. We get it from the French re- 
couvrir, i.e, re-couvrirj to cover again, the analogous 
Italian form being coprire, from the Latin cooperire, 
L e, con-operire. And what is operire ? It is an ex- 
cellent instance to prove that French is not derived 
from Latin, but had an independent growth ; because 
the French word is nearer to the older Sanskrit form 
than is the Latin, and it is inconceivable that a word 
having once been corrupted should, by further cor- 
ruption, approach nearer to its original form. The 
Sanskrit form is sam + vri, meaning literally, " to sur- 
round with"; nor need we stop there, for vri itself, 
which by some would be called a primitive base, can 
be resolved into vi-\-ri, literally "to go about,'' a very 
natural and descriptive onomatop for the idea conveyed 
by '' surround." Eut it may be asked how does the 
writer [F. P.] know that operire is at all connected 
with vri ? The answer is that he has detected several 
other Latin words in which the same change manifests 
itself. For instance, op-tare^ to choose, — in Sanskrit 
vri has also the sense of choosing ; — op-erari means 
*' to operate, work, engage oneself in,'' and the Sanskrit 
base vrit has precisely the same meaning ; op-es^ 
op-imo, op-ulenSj &c., convey an idea of " riches," &c., 
and the Sanskrit vridh does the same ; op-acus means 
"shadowy" and the Sanskrit vrish, to rain, whence 
varsha, " a cloud," shows the origin of the term ; 
op'timus^ = ^^hestj most to be chosen," is the equi- 

E 



50 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

valent of the Sanskrit vrind-draka^ " excellent," from 
vri^ ^Ho choose." Some words show the alliance still 
more plainly, such as orbs, orhit, in which the presence 
of vri^ to go round, is manifest. In the same way we 
might ally the Latin or -care ^ to shout, with the 
Sanskrit mih or vrimh^ having a similar meaning; 
or-dia, " first, principal/' with varh or valh, " good, 
pre-eminent," of (?) «;fZ5 A "to he grand, powerful;" 
and or-are, " to speak," seems to have been as active a 
word in Sanskrit as it is in Latin, for a whole series of 
bases exist presenting modified forms of vri, all having 
the sense of " speaking : " thus, vrimh, varh, valh, 
vridh, vrit, vat^ vad, \lvaj\ vichh, vach. The ima- 
ginary base vaj is introduced merely to show the 
phonetic link connecting vach with vad, the latter 
being unquestionably derived, through vat, from the 
form vrit. All these Sanskrit bases mean " speak," 
and again we find the sound vri modified to or-o in 
Latin. A very little trouble would bring together 
many more instances, but enough has been done to 
show that 0-, op-, or-, orh-, in certain Latin words 
actually represent the vri of Sanskrit. It is contrary 
to all the teaching of modern scholarship to suppose 
that sam-vri having once degenerated into co-operire 
could ever have gone back, by further corruption, to 
the form cou-vrir ; ergo the French word is indepen- 
dent of the Latin word. Furthermore, such words as 
coupe, cupidite, Cupidon, &c., show that the French 

* Auctor. Philom. 



INTRODUCTION. 51 

would have found no difficulty in uttering the Latin 
cooperire had they tried to do so. There can, there- 
fore, be no doubt that the exact meaning of re-cover is 
*' to again surround with," and that it has acquired 
other meanings by metaphoric usage. 

The word box is a most familiar instance of the 
many different ideas which metaphor will make a word 
represent. 

In the foregoing instances (p. 47) we, incidentally, 
met one of the most pertinent objections to the theory 
of onomatops, which we advocate and maintain. Mr. 
Henry Sweet, in the course of a review in the " Aca- 
demy," ^ says, " The most primitive and indispensable 
words of language are just those which could not 
possibly have originated from imitation ; the first 
object of language must have been to make known 
material wants such as hunger and thirsty not to call 
attention to the song of the nightingale, or discuss the 
ornithology of the cuckoo." We have seen above the 
simple guttural exclamation gd^ giving birth to 
vocables expressive of the first wants of man {gri^ 
to eat), and slowly enlarging in import with the 
growing exigencies of society, until ending in such 
words as hio-graphy and graft-ing. This is the process 
to which Mr. Sweet alludes, but does not rightly 
appreciate, when he says that, ''as language increases 
in copiousness and precision, the imitation and gesture 
words drop out, and are replaced by legitimate non- 
imitation words." The real truth being that the 

a Vol. iii. p. 219. 

E 2 



52 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

natural and animal utterances of man become con- 
solidated into conventional symbols by advancing 
civilization, and afterwards assume new meanings by 
metaphoric usage. 

Enough has now been said to define accurately 
our views on the development of onomatops ; and of 
Onomatops themselves it may here be said that they 
are not sounds imitative of other animals, or of 
the powers of nature ; they are not interjections, the 
exponents of transient passion; they are not innate 
bases with unalterable senses, created with man as an 
attribute of his being ; but they are the simple sounds 
which man utters in common with the brute, but 
which the mental organization of man has wrought to 
the perfection of Homeric and Shakesperian verse. 

We may say, in the words of J. S. Mill, when dis- 
cussing universal law,^ that we " have been enabled 
to see more clearly, in the progress of the investiga- 
tion, the basis of all these logical operations is the law 
of causation. The validity of all the inductive 
methods depends on the assumption that every event, 
or the beginning of every phenomenon, must have 
some cause, some antecedent, on the existence of 
which it is invariably, and unconditionally con- 
sequent." 

* Logic, ch. xxi., Evidence of the Law of Universal Causation. 



pr.^f^m:en. 



From the Philosophy of Inductive Sciences, Language 
is called an instrument of thought ; * but it is also the 
atmosphere for living thought. On the one side a 
medium essential to the activity of our speculative 
powers, invisible and imperceptible in its operations ; 
and, on the other side, an element modifying by its 
quantity and changes the growth and complexion of 
the faculties which it feeds. 

Onomatops are the primitive and original forms of 
the human language — the ^Evrekixeia of Aristotle (De 
Anima), or perfection coming from superior causes, pre- 
existent, and capable of receiving life and becoming 
finished vocables — the \6yo^ — what Geology is to the 
knowledge and science of our globe ; or Astronomy to 
the study of the physical laws of the heavenly bodies ; 
— or the representation of universe after its contem- 
plation. Words exist from the very nature of man, 
springing from the faculties which enable him to obey 
the impulses of his being, urging him to express by 
sounds the wants and fears of his life, and the tempests 
of internal passion. All vocables become cognizable 

• Words are the notes of thought, and nothing more ; 
Words are like sea shells on the shore, 

They show 
Where the mind ends, and not how far it has heen. 

IJailcijs Fcstufci 



54 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

through onomatops, because they are symbols of 
creation'— Jigmenta verborum — the medium by which 
children learn all that they know, for the simple reason 
that that fleur de rMtorique is the vox naturae^ the 
corner-stone, from all antiquity, to the majestic edifice 
of language, and the very source of light from which 
flow the elements of strength and grace of the \6yo^. 

The word Onomatop, or more correctly Onomato- 
poieia, is derived from the base of the oblique cases 
of ovofia and the verb Troteo). It would have been 
more appropriate to have evoked a new term from 
TVTTTco^ since an Onomatopoieia is a vocable coined, 
stamped to the effigy of the subject represented, of 
the nation where it is represented, and of the age 
in which it has been represented. The inconvenient 
length of the old term, on the one hand, and the 
desire to avoid the affectation of coining an altogether 
new word, on the other hand, have induced us to 
cut off boldly the latter portion of the word Onoma- 
topoieia, and to reduce it to the more wieldy propor- 
tions of Onomatop. The reader of this book will 
find that this is by no means the first time that a 
word has dwindled down to a single letter. This 
time the process is effected consciously, and for a 
practical purpose. 

Onomatops have escaped the convulsions which 
have agitated the globe, and the revolutions which 
have again and again remodelled society, because they 
are fundamental and eternal principles. The ovofjua once 
struck by the electric genius of man circulates among 



SCOPE OF PRESENT INQUIRY. 55 

mankind for ever, carrying with it at all times the 
impress it has received ; for, however much alloyed 
by foreign admixture, and disfigured by accumulated 
accretions, the pure and primitive elemental atom 
remains in every articulate word, awaiting the scien- 
tific analysis of the master of language. 

The task of submitting the whole body of human 
speech to careful analysis, for the purpose of discover- 
ing the protean atoms from which it germinated, is 
beyond human power ; but it is possible so to operate 
upon definite sections as to arrive at the real base- 
ment, and by occasional excursions into the general 
domain of speech to assure ourselves that our dis- 
coveries are universal facts. This we have in great 
part done, and have formed the onomatops we have 
discovered into a dictionary ; but before publishing 
the matter so collected, we thought it advisable to 
make known our method of treatment, in order that, 
in the work itself, we might have the advantage of 
the criticisms of such scholars as might favour us 
with their notice. 

The special object of writing this first Dictionary 
of Onomatops is to show, that we must look to nature 
only for the bonds uniting all languages together ; and 
in adverting to the numerous affinities or analogies con- 
necting languages, it is hoped that the proof of their true 
origin will be demonstrated. To do this we must go 
back to a period anterior to our civilization, although 
we do not pretend that civilization alone had the 
power to regulate the euphony of onomatops. Eupho- 



56 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

nia, suprema lea: est^ — the consequent corollary is that 
letters or signs must submit and yield to the music 
of the word. 

The only language we meet with in the long retro- 
spect of the past by which the riddle of human speech 
can be solved, is the Sanskrit, the elaborately organized 
structure of which presents most highly finished forms, 
abounding with numberless inflexions and idioms of 
remarkable euphonic power ; and^ furthermore, a lan- 
guage susceptible of perfect analysis, exhibiting an 
incontestible and uncontested superiority oyer other 
idioms. This admirable language spread over India 
by virtue of its strongly marked vital force, and the 
children it has left, in such vernaculars as Bengali, 
Mahrati, and Hindi, adapt themselves conspicuously to 
European languages, and elucidate them wonderfully 
by revealing the laws by which, in historic times, the 
monuments of Sanskrit phonology have crumbled to 
the dust. 

As we have shown in the Introduction, man had 
much to do before he could arrive at the harmony of 
Homer's verse. Proceeding from simple unconnected 
utterances, passing on to a concatenation of monosyl- 
lables in the fashion of the ancient Chinese, develop- 
ing an uncertain terminology, such as is seen in the 
hieroglyphs of Egypt, and finally reaching the fully 
inflexional phases of Semitic and Aryan languages, — ■ 
such is an outline of the history of this remarkable 
acquisition ; the whole afi'ording a strong confirmation 
of Dr. Darwin's theory of continuous evolution. 



/ 



DARWINISM IN LANGUAGE. 57 

The principles we announce, when fully developed, 
will lay the foundation for a new school of Philology, 
and do for Language and Philosophy what Dr. Darwin 
has done for the science of Physiology. 

In this Prsefamen we propose to give only some 
illustrations of our method of analysis, by which we 
shall seek to show a bond of imion among large num- 
bers of words hitherto supposed to have had indepen- 
dent origins. Some of these words we treat more fully 
and trace up to their onom atopic original ; but a pre- 
liminary sketch such as the present would have 
extended beyond reasonable proportions had we done 
so in every case. We take a sentence and show that 
every word is but one of a series of words, all clearly 
pointing to some common original The method of 
recovering that original we illustrate in some cases, 
which it will be seen is not guess-work, but is effected 
by a careful examination of both modern and ancient 
forms and by building upon a broad basis. It is not 
improbable that many of our alliances may prove faulty 
and may have to be rejected, but so long as our prin- 
ciples are not overthrown the value of our work remains 
untouched. These principles may be stated in a few 
sentences, as follows : — That every abstract in language 
is evolved from a more primitive concrete; — that every 
concrete was, originally, expressive in all its parts; — 
that each part (or pronounced letter) was a distinct 
expression of a separate material fact, or a phonetic 
modification of such an expression; — that each ex- 
pression had a distinctly recognizable relationship with 



58 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

the fact described ; and that it originated in the 
natural vocal utterances arising from the fact itself. 

But before placing the illustrations we have to 
adduce before our readers it is essential that we should 
very clearly explain what we mean when we speak 
of onomatops, and how we operate to discover them. 
To do these things more perfectly we shall discuss 
what we have to say in separate sections. 



SECTION I. 

ONOMATOPS ACCORDINa TO FOEMEE WEITEES. 

In the Introduction we have principally concerned 
ourselves with the laws which produce the most 
striking changes in language, and have only inciden- 
tally expressed our views on what onomatops really 
are. It is, however, evident that, to carry our readers 
with us through the wide field into which our method 
of treatment leads us, it is necessary to make very 
clear what we consider an onomatop to be, and how 
we deduce words from the elemental germ. To do 
this effectually we shall first of all place on record 
the opinions that have been advanced on this subject 
by previous writers, as far as they are known to us ; 
and then enter more fully into the results of our own 
reflections. 

Starting from Herodotus and Epicurus, we are 
astonished to find how accurately the old Greeks 
reasoned on such subjects. This is the more re- 
markable when we remember that the Greeks came 
to their conclusions without the aid of anything 
approaching to scientific examination, but solely by 
aid of philosophical speculations, and an intuitive 
sense of the fitness of things. 



60 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

The Chaldean oracle of Zoroaster leads with a word 
on our subject : — 

'Ovofjuara ^dp^apa^ fir} iror dXkd^7]<^f elal jdp ovofiara 
Trap' €KdcrTOL<; deoaBora Bvva/jnv iv Te\6Ta2<; dpprjrov e^oz^ra. 
— (Cozy^ Anc. Frag.^ pag. 271). " There are names given by 
the Deity, and they are eternal ; others are variable which are 
made by mortals/' 

Herodotus says : tJx^^ ^^ov elcrl difKoLKou *^ The sounds 
produced by animals are elementary/'' 

Aristides, lib. i. p. 3, JE\\i Adriensis (Oxonii, 1722); — 
'^Epyov eivai fiovaiKTJ^ ov rd ^covr]<i fjuovov fieprj o-vvta-rav 
'TTpo^ dXKrfKa, dXKd irdvO^ ocra (f>v(TL<; e%et, avvd'yeiVj re fcal 
avvapfJiOTTetv, 

Strabo, lib. xiv. : — Olfiai Be to ^dp^apov Kar dp)(^a<s eKire- 
(fKovrjcrOai ovto^j fcaT^ ovo/jbaroTroeiav eVl rwr Bva6K<f)6p(o<; koI 
<r/cX7}pco<; XaXovvTCOv, cb? to /SaTTapl^eiv kcll TpavXi^eLV kolI yjre- 
(j^aXl^eLv. ^'Barhar is a word formed by an onomatop, signify- 
ing murmur, from that sound, as denoting a man who speaks 
with difficulty and hardness'' ^Ev ^dpei elvai, ^^ to be burden- 
some." 

Epicurus ap. Dig. Laert., x. 32 : — Tlepl tcjv dBrjXcov 
aTTo T(ov (f>acvo/jbev(ov ')(p7] o-Tj/jueiova-dai, ' koX yap koI iirtvoiaL 
irdo-ai diro tmv ala-drjo-eLcov yeyovacriy /caTd re irepiTTTcoa-iv Kal 
dvdkoytav, Kal ofJiOLOTrjTa, Kal avvOeaiV (Tv/ub/SaWo/jLevov tl Kal 
Xoyta/jLov. " Concerning things not manifest, si^7is must be 
taken from those which do appear ; for all ideas (or thoughts) 
have arisen from the senses, according to circumstances or 
opportunities, — analogy, similarity, synthesis, and symbols also 
contributing something.'^ 

Orig. c. Cels. : — ^ETrUovpo^, ^vcreL iaTi Ta ovofiaTa OTrop- 

* " Barbarus hie ego sum quia non intelligor uUi." — Ovid in 
Pontus, Trist. v. 10, 37. " I am a barbarian here, because I am 
understood by no one.'^ 



HISTORY OF ONOMATOPIC IDEA. 61 

prj^dpTcov TOiV irp(i)T(ov dvdpcoTTCOv TLva<i ^cova<; Kara tmv 
Trpay/jidrcov. ^^ Language is the produce of man's instinct 
sharpened by the spur of necessity ; or_, nouns or names are 
by nature, the first men having burst foM certain sounds about 
things/^ 

The remarks of Proclus not inaptly follow here. 
He says : — 

O yap ^EirUovpo^ eXeyev on oif^L i'7ncrT7]fi6va)<; ovtoc eOevro 
ra ovofjuara, dWa (j)v<ri,K(o<; klvov/jl€voi,, o)? ol ^ijo-a-ovre'^, koX 
TTTalpovre^j koI fivKwiJuevoL, koI vXaKTOvvre^y kol <tt€V(x^ovt€^ 
(p. 9). " For Epicurus said that these men did not put forth 
names scientifically, but named naturally, as those who cough, 
sneeze, bellow, bark, andgroan/^ (See Laurenz Lersch, ^^Die 
Sprachphilosophie der Alten/'' p. 41 ; Bonn, 1839.) 

This last writer is very precise in his enumeration 
of the processes by which words are formed. From 
his Cratylus we gather the following ideas : — 

^^ Words are made (1) by imitation, KaTa pbiixriaiVy as to hiss, 
(TL^eiv ; (2) by reference to something, or by analogy ; (3) by 
catachresis, as when one says that sound is sweet ; (4) pseudo- 
nymously, or with a disregard of etymology, as when we talk 
of a silver hox, or of a brass looking-glass ; (5) by reference to 
history, as 6l3o\6<;, obol, from /8eXo9, ingot ; (6) by an extension 
of meaning, iircBcadrjTaKOTra, as ^coypd(po<;, a painter of animals, 
to a painter of animals in any other subject ; (7) by hyperbole, 
as when we talk of a man having no heart; (8) euphemisti- 
cally, as when we call the Furies " gentle ones ;" (9) analogi- 
cally, as when we speak of the /lead of a mountain ; (10) by 
resemblance, as when we say that a man's frame of mind was 
crude; (11) by a slight modification of an existing word; 
(12) elliptically, as rpdire^a; (13) by discovery, as when we 
call wine, '' Bacchus ;" (14) by naming the producer from the 
product, as *^ Vulcan " for fire ; (15) by excess, KaTo. virepoyriv, 
a physician, a surgeon x^ipovpyo'^, &c. &c., figures of speech. 



62 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

The following passages, culled from the writers 
indicated, will also satisfactorily attest that from the 
most ancient times to our own, a long succession of 
thoughtful men has felt that onomatopoieia formed the 
real basis of language. 

Lucretius de N.D.,^ Kb. v., vv. 1027-1388 :— 

At varios linguse sonitus Natura subegit 
Mittere, et utiHtas expressit nomina rerum : 
Non alia longe ratione atque ipsa videtur 
Protrahere ad gestum pueros infantia Knguse ; 
Quom facit, ut digito^ quae sint prsesentia, monstret : 
Sentit enim vim quisque suam quod possit abuti. 
* * * * * * 

Proinde putare aliquem turn nomina distribuisse 
Rebus, et inde homines didicisse voeabula prima, 
Desipere est : nam quur hie posset cuncta notare 
Vocibus, et varios sonitus emittere Hnguee, 
Tempore eodem aliei facere id non quisse putentur ? 
Prseterea, si non ahei quoque vocibus usei 
Inter se fuerant, unde insita notities est ? 
Utihtas etiam, unde data est huic prima potestas, 
Quid vellet facere, ut sciret, animoque videret ? 
Cogere item plureis unus, victosque domare 
Non poterat, rerum ut perdiscere nomina vellent : 
Nee ratione doeere uUa, suadereque surdeis, 
Quid sit opus facto ; faciles neque enim paterentur, 
Nee ratione uUa sibi ferrent amplius aureis 
Vocis inauditos sonitus obtundere frustra. 

Postremo, quid in hac mirabile tantopere est re, 
Si genus humanum, cui vox, et Kngua vigeret, 
Pro vario sensu varias res voce notaret ; — 
Quom pecudes mutae, quom denique secla ferarum, 
Dissimileis soleant voces variasque ciere, 

* The old orthography of some of the words has been preserved. 



HISTORY OF ONOMATOPIC IDEA. 63 

Quom metus, aut dolor est ; et quom jam gaudia gliscunt ? 
Quippe etenim licet in rebus cognoscere apertis. 

Irritata canum quom primum magna Molossum 
Mollia ricta fremunt, duros nudantia denteis, 
Longe alio sonitu rabies districta minatur, 
Et quom jam latrant, et vocibus omnia complent. 
At catulos blande quom lingua lambere tentant, 
Aut ubi eos lactant pedibus morsuque petentes, 
Suspensis teneros imitantur dentibus haustus^ 
Longe alio pacto gannitu vocis adulant, 
Et quom desertei baubantur in eedibus, aut quom 
Plorantes fugiunt, submisso corpore, plagas. 

Denique non hinnitus item differre videtur, 
Inter equas ubi equus florenti aetate juvencus 
Pinnigeri saevit calcaribus ictus Amoris ; 
Et fremitum patulis sub naribus edit ad arma ? 
Et quom sic alias concussis artubus hinnit. 

PostremOj genus alituum variaeque volucres, 
Accipitres atque ossifragae mergeique marinis 
Fluctibus in salso victum vitamque petentes, 
Longe alias alio jaciunt in tempore voces, 
Et quom de victu certant praedaque repugnant. 
Et partim mutant cum tempestatibus una 
Raucisonos cantus cornicum secla vetusta 
Corvorumque greges ; ubi aquam dicuntur et imbreis 
PoscerCj et interdum ventos aurasque vocare. 

Ergo, si variei sensus animalia cogunt, 
Muta tamen quom sint, varias emittere voces ; 
Quanto mortaleis magis aequum est turn potuisse 

Dissimileis alia atque alia res voce notare ? 

****** 

At liquidas avium voces imitarier ore 
Ante fuit multo, quam laevia carmina cantu 

Concelebrare homines possent, aureisque juvare. 

****** 

Sic unum quidquid paullatim protrahit aetas 
In medium, ratioque in luminis eruit oras. 



64 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

VarrOy Lingua Latina, 1064, 20. 30 : — ^^ Yocabula piscium, 
pleraq. translata et terrestribus ex qua parte similibus rebus ut 
anguillas linguata sudis." 

Quinctil. Instit, Orat. viii. : — ^' 'Ovofiaroiroda, id est fictio 
nominis, Grsecis inter maximas habita virtutes, nobis vix per- 
mittitur; et sunt plurima ita posita ab iis, qui sermonem 
primi fecerunt^ aptantes affectibus vocem.''^ 

Quinctil. Orat. viii. : — ^^ Nomina aptare, non alia libertate 
quam qua illi primi homines rebus appellationes dederunt/'' 

Origen c. Cels. : — Ao^yo^ ^d6v<; koI a7r6ppr)TO<; 6 irepi ^vaeco^; 
ovofidrcov. " The nature of names is a deep and mysterious 
subject." 

St. Augustiuy a.d. 430 : — "In the case of things lifeless, and 
to carry with it an impression, a certain analogy was allowed 
to come into play, as that of the softness or hardness of things. 
The very words levis and asper have a lightness and asperity 
in their sound; voluptas, pleasure, is a soft, as crwii?, cross, is 
a harsh word : mel, honey, is as sweet to the ear as honey 
is to the taste ; acre, sour, is bitter to both ; lana, wool, and 
vepres, a bramble, are as rough to the ear as the things they 
mean ai'e to the touch. The Stoics considered a concord 
between sound and sense to be the very cradle of language.^' 

Suidas, Lexicon: — ^OvofiaroTroua Be iorri <j)a)vr]<; ixifirjai^ 
7rpo9 T7)v TTOcorrjTa rov VTTOKeifievov '^%ou. " Onomatopoieia is 
an imitation of the voice, in reference to the quality of the 
sound which is the subject thereof."*^ 

Dionysius Halicarn. : — MeyaXr] tovtcov dp^V '^'^^ StSacr/caXo? 
rj (j)vaL9, rj iroiovaa fiLfJLrjrcKov^ r)/jbd<; koX OertKov^; rcov ovofid- 
rcov, oh BrfKovrai rd Trpdy/jbara. *'A great principle and 
teacher of t/iese (onoma) is nature, which makes us (to be) 
imitative and productive of nouns (or names) by which things 
are set forth .''■' 

Alex. Aphrodisiensis (Oxon. 1481, fol.) : — Td ovopuara koi 
rd prjpLara <j)(i)val, at Be ^(oval (jivaei, rd dpa ovopbara koX rd 
pripbara <f>vaei. ''Nouns and verbs are sounds; therefore nouns 



J r 



HISTORY OF ONOMATOPIC IDEA. 65 

and sounds are by nature.'''' (See Dr. Laurenz Lersch, '^Die 
Sprachphilosophie der Alten/' i., p. 89 ; Bonn, 1838.) 
Antonius, Ujoig. Ixxvi. (edit. Lemaire) : — 

Gallorum Cantus^ et orantes gutture corvos, 

Et vocum quidquid bellus et ales habet^ 

Omnia cum similes ita voce ut ficta negentur 

Non potes humanse vocis habere sonum. 

Petrus Nigidius (the elder )j Commentariis : — ^^ Nomina 
verbaque non positu fortuito, sed quadam-vi ac ratione naturae 
facta esse P. Nigidius in Grammaticis Commentariis docet ; rem 
sane in philosophias dissertationibus celebrem. Quseri enim 
solitum apud philosopbos^ (pvaec ra ovofiara sint^ ij Oiarei, In 
earn rem multa argumenta dicit, cur videri possent verba 
esse naturalia magis quam arbitraria."*^ 

IsaacVossms, Be Foemat. Cantii (see *'De Arte GrammaticBs/') 
p. ^^\ Oxford_, 1676; and London^ 1688: — ^^Nunc vero ita 
comparatum est ut animalium quae vulgo bruta creduntur 
melior longe quam nostra^ bac in parte videatur conditio, ut- 
pote quae promptius et forsan felicius sensus_, et cogitationes 
suas sine interprete significant^, quam illi que quando mortales, 
praesertim si peregrino utatur sermone.^' 

The Indian commentator on Yasha^s Nirukta^ a 
Sanskrit work on Etymology dating 400 years B.C., 
remarking on the fact that among many qualities one 
only is chosen as the name of the object, says : " You 
may well ask why this is so. But, my friends, go 
and ask the world. Quarrel with the world, for it is 
not I who made this law. For although all nouns are 
derived from verbs, yet the choice of one action (which 
is to be predicated in preference to others) is beyond 

any control TFords are fixed in the world 

we cannot say how {svahlidvatah^ by nature).'' (Quoted 
by Professor Max Midler, Anc. Sansk. Lit., p. 1G7.) 

F 



6Q LINGUISTIC OEIGINES. 

In the MaliabMsliya (b.c. 200) we are told that 
'' A word is that through which, when uttered, there 
IS cognition (of objects of sense) ; or, in the world, a 
noise (dhwani) ^ with a recognized sense is called a 
word.^' 

Among French authors the following are selected: — 

Charles Nodiei', Bes OnomatopeeSj ed. 1828, Preface^ p. 11: — 
" L''onomatopee est le type des langues prononcees^ et Thiero- 
glyphe le type des langues ecrites/' 

Ibid., ^. 15: — " Independamment des mots formes par 
imitation, il y a dans les langues un tres grand nombre de mots 
qui, sans avoir la meme origine, n^en sont pas moins composes 
tres naturellement et doivent etre rapportes a Tonomatopee, 
ou fiction de nom/^ 

BiondeUij Etudes linguistiques : — " Lorsque nous considerons 
{il ragguardevole numero) le nombre remarquable d'onomatopees 
epars 9a et la dans les langues, et surtout les onomatopees qui 
conservent encore les marques de leur formation premiere^ nous 
ne saurions douter de la tendance naturelle chez Thomme a 
representer les objets sous leurs formes les plus distinctes/' 

Pictet, Les Aryas Primiti/s, Introduction, p. 12 : — ^^En these 
generale, lorsque deux mots de meme son se trouvent pre- 
senter le meme sens dans deux idiomes differents, il en resulte, 
tout d'abord, une propension a croire, soit a une transmission, 
soit a une commune origine, a ^exception de ce qu^on appelle 
les onomatojoees qiii naissent d'ttne imitation directed' 

Ibid.,\o\. ii., p. 347 : — '^'^II est certain que d^anciennes ono- 
matopees se conservent souvent a travers les siecles, et que 
retrouvees dans les diverses branches d^une meme famille de 
langues, elles concourent a en demontrer Punite primitive/' 

M. Littre, Hist, de la Laoig^ie Frangaise (Paris, 1869), vol. i. 
» This -word dhwani is connected with the A.S. dyn, confused noise. 



HISTORY OF ONOMATOPIC IDEA. 67 

pp. 26, 27 : — ^' Sans doute VMymologie ne mene pas encore et, 
on en pent dire_, ne menera jamais a toacher les origines et les 
sons primordiaux d^ou les langues sont sorties par un develop- 
pement regulier. Mais, pourtant, elle a fait bien de ehemin 
dans cette voie ascendante vers le passe de notre histoire, et 
elle en fera certainement bien davantage a mesure que le 
cercle de ses comparaisons s'etendra, et que, dans chacune des 
grandes families d^idiomes, elle aura reussi a distinguer, avec 
une precision suffisante, les elements radicaux. Les espaces 
intermediaires lui sont ouverts, et le fait est, que la faculte 
qui transforme est de meme nature que la faculte qui crea; 
les transformations etant dans tons les cas, une creation pour 
une part/' 

^. Renarij Ooigine clu Langage (Paris, 1858), pp. 136, 137 : 
— ^^ La langue des premiers bommes ne fut done, en quelque 
sorte, que Fecbo de la nature dans la conscience humaine. . . 
Dans les langues semitiques et dans 1' Hebreu, en particulier, 
la formation par onomatopee est tres-sensible pour un grand 
nombre de racines, et pour celles surtout qui portent un ca- 
ractere marque d'antiquite et de monosyllabisme." 

Iderrij ch. vi. p. 136 : — ^^ L^onomatopee, ou limitation, parait 
avoir ete le precede d'apres lequel Fhumanite primitive forma 
les appellations. La voix humaine etant a la fois signe et son, 
il etait naturel que Ton prit le son de la voix pour signe des 
sons de la nature. D'ailleurs, comme le cboix de Fappellation 
n^est point arbitraire, et que jamais l^homme ne se decide a 
assembler des sons au hasard pour en faire les signes de la 
pen see, on pent affirmer que de to us les mots actuellement 
usites, il n^en est pas un seul qui n^ait eu sa raison suffisante, 
et ne se rattache a travers mille transformations a une election 
primitive. 

" Or, le motif determinant pour le choix des mots a du etre, 
dans la plupart des cas, le desir d'imiter I'objet qu'on voulait 
exprimer. L'instinct de certains animaux suffit pour les porter 

f2 



QS LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

a ce genre d'imitation, qui^ faute de principe rationel, reste chez 
eux infecond.'''' 

German scholars^ haye written largely on onomatops ; 

the following passages show the tendency of their 

thoughts. 

Seyse, C. W.L., System cler SpracJi-WissenscJiaftj &c. (Berlin, 
1856) p. 90. — (Translation.) '^'^If we consider on the one 
hand the different kinds of natural sounds, and, on the other, 
the stock of words which belong to intelligent speech, we 
shall find many close points of contact and transition between 
the two.''"' 

Herder {der JJrsjprung der Spraclie) was a strenuous defender 
of onomatopoieia, but in later life he abandoned his belief. 

SteintJialj der Ursprtmg der Sprache (Berlin, 1858). — "It is 
inconceivable that anyone should be hardy enough to deny 
that onomatopoieia was the primaeval tendency of language 
which has furnished us with all elements of words.''"' 

Ihid. — ^' The word belongs not only to the speaker but also 
to the hearer. Comprehension and speech are only different 
effects of the power of language.''^ 

Bopp, Comparative Grammar (Trans, into English by E. B. 
Eastwick). — "Of every thing in nature, of every animal, of 
every plant, speech can seize one property to express the whole 
of it.^^ 

Fott, Mymologische Forsclmngen (Lemgo, 1833.) — "There 
is unquestionably a certain meaning, appropriateness, and 
symholic power in sound." 

Bunsen, Outlines. — "Language has all the distinctive pecu- 
liarities of vegetable nature.''^ 

^F. Wallner JJeber den TIrsprung der Sprache, Miinster, 1838 ; 
Woigtman, D/e Bau-wau Theorie, Dresden, 1865; Dlez, translated 
into English by Cayley, 1863, and his Efgmologisches by T. E. Don- 
kin, 1865 ; L. Wienborg, Das Oelieimniss des Worts, Hamburg, 
1852. 



HISTORY OF ONOMATOPIC IDEA. 69 

Idem. — '■^ The imitative nature of Lang'uao'e consists in an 
artistic imitation, not of things,, but of tlie rational expression 
wliicli an object produces by its qualities/'' 

Bu7isen, Egyj^fs Place in JJniversalllistory, vol. iv. p. 485 : — 
^^ Primitive language spoken with rising and falling cadences; 
elucidated by gesture ; accompanied by pure picture wi'iting ; 
every syllable a word, every word a full substantive one, 
representable by a picture/"* 

Professor Max Miiller,^ as is well known, is deci- 
dedly opposed to the theory of onomatopoieia, but still 
he makes admissions which tell in its favour. Thus 
he allows that ^^onomatopoeias are material for lan- 
guage — stepping-stones to it." This is all that the 
most advanced onomatopist desires to establish. Pro- 
fessor Max Miiller also admits that " There is a vast 
stock of onomatopoeias in every language \ some words 
originally expressive of sounds only, might be trans- 
ferred to other things which have some analogy with 
sound." 

Every thing that so excellent a scholar writes is 
valuable, we therefore cite, from his '^Science of 
Language," two or three more ideas. 

" Every thing in language, but the roots, is intelli- 
gible, and can be accounted for/^ — p. 2 GO. " They 
[the roots] are phonetic types produced by a power 
inherent in human nature." — p. 370. Language is 
built up by the mind of man, '^ guided only by innate 
laws, or by an instinctive power," — p. 296. But at 

* The Languages of the Seat of War in the East, second edition, 
London, 1855. Lectures on the Science of Language, First Series, 
1S61 ; Second Series, ISGl, London. 



70 LINGUISTIC OEIGINES. 

p. 846 he says, " We cannot deny the possibility that 
a language might have been formed on the principle 
of imitation :" which is afterwards (p. 351) amusingly 
modified by the remark that ^'though a language 
might have been made out of the roaring, fizzing, 
hissing, gobbling, twittering, cracking, banging, slam- 
ming, and rattling sounds of nature, the tongues with 
which we are acquainted, point to a different origin." 

A few passages from English writers will end these 
selections. 

Home TooJcej Diversions of Tiirleyj vol. i. p. 62 : — ^^ The 
dominion of speech is erected upon the downfall of interjec- 
tions. "Without the artful contrivances of language, mankind 
would have nothing hut interjections with which to communicate, 
orally, any of their feelings .^^ 

Camjphelly Rhetoric : — " Onomatopoeia is not a word invented 
on the basis of sound-imitation, but the transformation of a 
sound-name into a vocable.'' 

Bev,B. Garnett J Essays on the Nature and Analysis of the Verb, 
pp. 289 to 342 :— *' We believe;with Mr. Max Miiller, that all 
language is reducible to rootSj which are either the bases of 
abstract nouns, or are pronouns denoting relations of place, 
which latter we believe to have arisen from interjectional or 
onomatopic element s.^^ 

Trench, The Study of Words, 4th ed., p. 15 : — ^* He [man] 
did not thus begin the world with names, but with the power of 
naming ; for man is not a mere speaking machine ; God did 
not teach him words, as one of us teaches a parrot, from 
without ; but gave him a capacity, and then evoked the capa- 
city which he gave.^' 

John Stuart Mill, System of Logic ratiocinative and induc- 
tive, vol. i., chap, ii., p. 23 : — ^' A name, says Hobbes {Co?npu- 
tation of Logic, chap, ii.) is a word taken at pleasure to serve 



HISTORY OF ONOMATOPIC IDEA. 71 

for a mark which may raise in our mind a thought like to 
some thought we had before^ and which being pronounced to 
others^ may be to them a sign of what thought the speaker 
had (or had not). This simple definition of a name as a word 
(or set of words) serving the double purpose of a mark to 
recall to ourselves the likeness of a former thought, and a sign 
to make it known to others appears unexceptionable. But 
seeing names ordered in speech are signs of our conceptions, 
it is manifest they are not signs of the things themselves ; 
for that the sound of this word stone should be the sign of a 
stone cannot be understood in any sense but this, that he 
that hears it collects that he who pronounces it thinks of 
a stoned 

Ihicl, chap, v., on the Natural History of the Variations in 
the Meaning of Terms, p. 237 : — ''The history of a word, by 
showing the causes which determine its use, is a ^better guide 
to its employment than any definition ; for definitions can 
only show its meaning at the particular time, or at most, the 
series of its successive meanings, but its history may show 
the law by which the succession was produced/^ 

Rev. Frederich William Farrar, Origin of Language, chap, 
viii. p. 88 : — " The theories of the Inter jectional and Onomato- 
poetic origin of language are not in reality different, and both 
of them might, without impropriety, be classed under the 
better name Onomatopoeia ; for, in point of fact, the impulsive 
instinct to reproduce a sound is precisely analogous to that 
which gives vent to a sensation by an interjection.'' 

Ibid. J chap, iv., p. 39 :— "If language was a human inven- 
tion, and was due to a gradual development, there must have 
been a time in man's history when he was possessed of nothing 
but the merest rudiments of articulate speech, in which, there- 
fore, he must have occupied a lower grade than almost any 
existing tribe." 

Wedgwood, Dictionary of English Mymology, Introduction, 
p. iii. : — After saying that a rational inquirer will not be satis- 



72 LINGUISTIC ORiaiNES. 

fied until he meets with a principle adequate to give rise to 
the use of language, he goes on, " Now one such principle at 
least is universally admitted under the name of Onomatopoeia, 
when a word is made to imitate or represent a sound character- 
istic of the object it is intended to designate, as Bang^ Crack , 
Purr, WhizZj Hum. In uncivilized languages the conscious- 
ness of the imitative character of certain words is sometimes 
demonstrated by their composition with verbs like say, or do, 
to signify making a noise like that represented by the word 
in question." 

The reader who has attentively considered the fore- 
going opinions (which could be much increased in 
number) cannot fail to have remarked their diversities 
and similitudes. The greatest diversity of opinion 
seems to prevail on what an onomatop is; while sin- 
gular unanimity is manifest in the declaration that 
language had an onomatopic origin. Professor Max 
Miiller is the important exception to this general 
unanimity, and even he confesses that a language 
might have been so formed. It is clear that these 
writers viewed the question more from a poetic and 
philosophic point of view than from a scientific and 
analytical one. Some of these scholars appear to think 
that words are the natural correlatives of form, that 
the sound is moulded on the form and being presented 
to the ear, as rays of light are presented to the eye, 
necessarily and inevitably occasion a perception of the 
object intended ; others seem to believe that sound is, 
as it were, plastic, and is itself moulded by the will of 
the speaker into the verisimilitude of the object spoken 
of; others, again, deduce words from interjectional 
noises, and others from the imitative faculty of man 



HISTORY OF ONOMATOPIC IDEA. 73 

which led him to recognize objects by the sounds 
emanating from them. It is not too harsh a judg- 
ment to pronounce on the majority of these unscho- 
lastic opinions if we set them aside as mere poetry 
and dreaming. Of course we do not mean that all the 
eminent men from whom we have quoted are unprac- 
tical dreamers, but that they, having discovered that 
the beginnings of language must have been onomatopic, 
instead of patiently analyzing facts so as to find what 
onomatops really are, allowed themselves to speculate, 
to argue, and theorize^ as to what was or was not a 
probable starting point for language. It forms, how- 
ever, no part of our present purpose to descant upon 
the views we have quoted. The object of this section 
is to place before our readers an historical summary of 
what has hitherto been said of onomatops. In the 
next section our own views will be fully set forth.^ 



a This Section (Sect. I.) is due to the researches of the Count 
do G.-Liancouit. — F.P. 



SECTION II. 
WHAT ONOMATOPS EEALLY ARE. 

In the preceding section we have stated as succinctly 
as possible the yiews of preceding writers on the 
nature of onomatops, but have spent no time in dis- 
cussing them. It seems to us that, with the excep- 
tion of some of the more recent, their interest is 
mainly historical, enabling us to see that the general 
sentiment of philologists for thousands of years has 
tended towards the onomatopic origin of speech. The 
reason why this idea has never been consolidated into 
the basis of a real science of language is that it pre- 
sents so tempting a subject for the poetic faculty of 
our species to dream oyer. No sooner does the mind 
realize the notion of an imitative origin for words 
than an impulse almost irresistible leads the speculator 
to ponder on the still and gentle, the sweet and soft, 
the hurrying and boisterous, the grand, terrifying, yea, 
horrifying sounds that alternately please and startle 
the ear of man. The lion's roar and the bulbuPs 
song^ the crash of bursting rocks, the howl of the 
eddying tempest, and the gentle ripple of the murmur- 
ing stream, are felt to be the monitors of man, impart- 
ing to him, with nature's untiring pertinacity, the 
mysterious art of inspiring sentiment and arousing 



THE POETRY OF LANGUAGE. 75 

thouglit by aid of sound alone. The poetic instincts 
within us are awakened by such reflections, and the 
imagination at once busies itself in framing theories 
and in explaining away facts. The judgment is fasci- 
nated by the pleasing vision. 

There can be no doubt that many words owe their 
being to the imitation of natural sounds, and many 
more bear the semblance of such a genealogy ; but 
still, as sceptics have repeatedly pointed out, though 
languages are enriched by such imitative vocables, 
they do not constitute the essential basis. They are 
tributaries, not the parent stream. After the excision 
of all words that can fairly be considered imitative, 
there always remains a small but important residuum 
that obstinately resists any reasonable effort to demon- 
strate its evolution from either the heavens or the 
earth. 

Now this general concurrence of opinion as to the 
onomatopic origin of words, and the inability, at the 
same time, to explain the process of evolution, must 
be primarily occasioned, or at all events largely 
affected, by the want of a clear and rational definition 
of what an onomatop really is. It is for this reason 
that we think it of essential importance to explain in 
this section what we mean when we speak of onoma- 
tops ; so that wo may not be confounded with poets 
and dreamers, who arc charmed by a name to which 
they attach no proper sense. 

And, first, Ave must remark that those who seek to 
deduce all our words from the sounds of animals and 



76 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

the elements, do not seem to perceive that, by so 
doing, they reduce man below the level of the brute. 
We have nothing to object to that on sentimental 
grounds ; but we do object to it on the score of 
logical inconsistency. For in all historical time man 
has been in advance of the brute, and the qualities 
that have kept him in advance must have been those 
that brought him to the front ; and first among 
these qualities is language itself. But were this not 
so, it is surely unreasonable to argue that the animal 
which has always shown the largest amount of intel- 
lectual capacity, should, in the beginning, have pos- 
sessed the very least ; insomuch as to have been 
unable to express its passions by sounds until it had 
acquired the art from other creatures. It must not 
be forgotten that the purely imitative theory carried 
to its logical conclusion brings mankind to a time of 
absolute dumbness, — when the dog could bark and 
the monkey could chatter, but the man could utter 
never a word. This view of the argument is some- 
thing like a reductio ad absurdum. Furthermore, if 
we suppose our species to have acquired the power 
of speech by nothing but imitation, we are at once 
deprived of all spontaneity. Without going so far as 
M. llenan, and asserting that " spontaneity is every- 
thing," we yet think it very certain that human 
beings are, at least, as capable of originating as the 
inferior animals ; and if a dog could bark untaught of 
man, so man may be safely accorded the power of 
speaking untaught of the dog. Again, there seems 



IMITATION THEORY 77 

something unaccountably contradictory in maintaining 
that the progenitors of our race were so hopelessly 
imbecile that they could not cry out if they were 
hurt, and yet were intelligent enough to perceive the 
advantages that would accrue from an interchange of 
ideasj and to set themselves to overcome their great 
natural defect. Did anyone ever hear of an idiot 
arguing within himself that idiotcy is folly, and re- 
solving to desist from foolish pranks and become a 
savant ? The two ideas seem utterly irreconcileable. 
There is yet another and unanswerable argument why 
human beings have as great a claim to spontaneity in 
their use of sound as other creatures, and that is the 
possession of the means of articulation. What process 
of imitation could have given to man his mouth, teeth, 
palate, tongue, and vocal cords ? Can we suppose a 
creature possessed of appropriate organs without the 
capacity for their use ? This argument requires no 
elaboration. As it is simply absurd to suppose that 
imitation could have conferred on human beings the 
faculty of speech, so is it altogether beyond credence 
that the organs of speech should exist without the 
capacity for their employment.^ 

Pure imitation, then, fails to account for language ; 

* As it might be urged that parrots, magpies, &c., have the 
organs necessary for articuLite speech, and yet do not talk unless 
specially instructed, we here remark that the wild- wood screams of 
the parrot, &c., form the natural language of those creatures. 
What the parrot is taught is the art of regulating his screams, 
and bringing them into conformity^vith a human standard. The 
bird, in fact, is not taught to spectJc, but to speak a new language. 



78 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

and the recognition of this fact has led to the sugges- 
tion that all words grew out of emotional sounds, — 
the sudden and uncontrollable ejaculations which ex- 
press the transitory passions. It will be seen that 
this theory goes to the other extreme ; for, as the first 
supposition reduces man to an incapable dummy, pain- 
fully imitating sound after sound of the more advanced 
brute, so this theory, casting aside imitation, rests en- 
tirely on man's spontaneity. In the first case the 
human animal originates nothing ; in the second, blind 
impulse originates everything. However convenient 
such a theory might be, the words we now-a-days 
use persistently refuse to be reduced to interjections. 
Furthermore, under such an hypothesis our reason 
assures us that we should find one word only to ex- 
press one idea all over the world, more especially those 
primitive ideas that must have been among the very 
first such a process called forth. Some form of ^^oh!" 
should be the word for ^^woe" all over the world, and 
it could never be subject to phonetic corruption from 
its extreme simplicity, and its constant reference back 
to nature. This we know is not the fact. Every man 
of every race cries out "oh!" when he is hurt, — M. 
Du Chaillu tells us that when the gorilla received his 
death-blow he exclaimed, in the most terrific and 
human-like voice, "ah!" — but man uses some widely 
difi*erent sound when he speaks of the injury he has 
received. So far from finding but one word to express 
one emotion the very reverse is in reality the case. 
Even the simplest and most barbarous language is 



INTEEJECTION THEORY. 79 

found to offer a choice of vocables for any idea the 
speaker may desire to express.^ The alternatiye words, 
too, are as diverse in construction as can well be 
imagined. Take, for example, the English sorrow 
and griefs both of which are as hopelessly removed 
from any conceivable interjection as they are from 
each other; and comparing these with the Sanskrit 
rodana and didpana, we have at once four vocables 
radically distinct to represent one of the prime emo- 
tions.^ 

History is, furthermore^ altogether against the inter- 
jectional theory. Many instances occur of words 
passing into unmeaning exclamations ; but we meet 
with very few undoubted interjections assuming the 
powers of ordinary vocables. Thus, alas! is derived 
from laX'Us, lass-itude, the being loose^ or re-laxed; 
so the Greek ayl^ ^^quick!" ^^good!" "come on!" sprang 
from a base that is also found in the Latin ago, age- 
dum (for agendiim\ agesis, meaning " to set in motion," 
to a^i-tate (Fr. agir). It is not improbable that 
these broken-down words may have deceived inquirers 

^ We mean, of course, the native speaker and his own ideas ; not 
that a barbarous language can express civiHzed refinements. 

^ Sorrow is the Gothic saurgan, the Norse sorg, connected with 
the M'ords iougli and to sigh, the Sans, solca, aUied to sioas, to 
breathe, to heave sighs. Grief, Fr. grever, Ital. gravare, to op- 
press ; from Lat. gravis, heavy. Sans, guru, with which also is con- 
nected the Gotliic kauritha, Icaurs, A.S. caru, Eng. care, Lat. 
cura, and that which exhibits tokens of care or is curious. Hodana 
from rud and ru, to make a row, to roar. Ald^ana, from lap, to 
speak, to sound, to use the lips. 



80 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

once penetrated with the notion that interjections 
formed a rational base for language. The sounds 
which human beings uttered from the promptings of 
impulse only are very few^ and what is more to the 
point they are altogether wanting in descriptive power. 
The necessity for finding both a descriptive and a plas- 
tic basis for language led the authors of this book to 
the conviction that speech could only find its origin 
among the sounds which are completely under the 
control of man. A potter could never shape pots to 
his wish out of clay that started spontaneously into 
regular forms ; neither could a speaker modulat© into 
descriptive vocables sounds that started forth impul- 
sively only upon the awakening of the passions. 
Such reflections seem to dispose finally of the interjec- 
tional theory, and to throw the inquirer of necessity 
upon some other source. That other source, as we 
have indicated in the " Introduction," is found in the 
illimitable number of sounds, other than exclamatory, 
which all creatures possessed of appropriate organs 
can emit or not at pleasure. These sounds^ it will be 
remarked, are not necessarily imitative ; for they are 
peculiarly subjective, and can be occasioned by a thought 
as well as by a fact. Not that we suppose for a mo- 
ment that thought primarily suggested words ; on the 
contrary, we maintain that words occasioned thought. 
The facts of life were the first monitors. Man in his 
animal state bit, grasped, swallowed, snarled, licked, 
fought, ran, and felt the emotions of fear and love; 
and actions and impulses such as these being continu- 



GESTURE. 81 

ally repeated and experienced by particular organs 
and in particulars ways, were gradually felt to be 
symbolized by the sounds and gestures with which 
they were constantly accompanied. 

The important part which gesticulation played in 
early language must never be lost sight of. ^^ Loqua- 
cissimae manus, linguosi digiti, silentium clamosum." * 
All uncultivated languages supplement their defective 
vocabulary by gestures which are frequently as ex- 
pressive as words themselves. The language of the 
Kafirs of South Africa, for example, to the ear consists 
of a succession of clicks. Two, three, and many clicks 
are uttered, to which sense is given by expressive 
gestures ; insomuch that it is jokingly said Kafirs can- 
not talk at night without a fire. The same, to a lesser 
extent, is true of more advanced idioms. Everyone 
will recollect the following scene : When a high priest 
in Greece was celebrating, with pomp and solemnity, 
the services of the gods at Athens, a messenger 
entered the temple, and going straight to the altar, 
threw himself on his knees, and with extended arms 
exclaimed, ^^ O Lord, thy son lost his life yesterday 
on the battle-field ! " .... The priest immediately 
took his tiara from his head, and deposited it upon 
the altar as a sign of mourning . . . . ^^ but," continued 
the messenger, " he died while fighting the enemy ! " 
Then the father and priest instantly re[)laced his tiara 
on his head, and unconcernedly continued his sacrifice 

* Cassiodorus Varro, " De Lingua Latiua," iv. 51. 

G 



82 LINGUISTIC ORIGINALE&. 



# 



to the gods. There is a marvellous depth of poetry in 
such gestures, they symbolize by a motion the most 
subtle impulses, — grief, humility, joy, content, glory, 
and all of them together/ 

We have, however, not yet given our definition of 
an onomatop, or rather the sense in which we employ 
the word throughout this treatise ; and one reason for 
not doing so is that it is no easy task to formulate 
what is nevertheless clear to the conception. What 
is foregone will, however, enable the reader to see the 
view we entertain of language itself, and will act 
as a gloss on the following, which we think the most 
apt words to describe an onomatop : — A sound con- 
sciously uttered for a purpose. Perhaps we could do 
without the word " consciously," for everything done 
with intent must be performed consciously ; but we 
think it better to insert the word so that it may be 
unmistakeably apparent that we consider the will of 
the utterer an essential factor. When a pig screams 
it gives vent to interjections ; when it murmurs over 
the trough it utters onomatops. So also the yell of 

a Marsh, in his "Lectures on the English Language," pp. 487, 
488, gives the following surprising instances of gesture : — ^" The lan- 
guage of gesture is so well understood in Italy, that when King 
Ferdinand returned to Naples, after the revolutionary movement 
of 1822, he made an address to the lazzaroni from the halcony of 
the palace, wholly hy signs which, in the middle of the most 
tumultuous shouts, was perfectly understood by the public ; and it 
is traditionally affirmed that the famous conspiracy of the Sicilian 
Vespers was organized wholly by facial signs, not even the hand 
being employed." 



DEFINITION OF " ONOMATOP." 83 

the lion is an interjection, but the roar is a genuine 
onomatop, uttered consciously for the purpose of terri- 
fying the prey. 

Few people are aware of the fact that the lion's 
roar is systematic. In proof that it is so^ we give the 
following narrative from the experience of S. Gerard, 
the lion-killer. This undaunted hunter was once, 
early in the morning, at the foot of the Atlas, se- 
lecting a recess under a projection of a rock whence 
he could easily observe the plain, and be himself pro- 
tected in the rear. When established and ready for 
work, with his two guns, his pipe, his biscuit and 
flask, he had his ingenious triangle displayed and 
planted in front on the sand of the desert. He then 
sat down, drew a telescope from his knapsack, and 
waited the arrival of an antagonist. Soon a clattering 
noise was heard, like horses' feet, as though a squad 
of Arabs were riding on the rocks hanging over his 
head, which inspired the single-handed man with 
serious reflections. Then there was a perfect silence : 
no Arab could be seen. At a quarter of a mile off*, a 
monstrous bison-like animal was moving. It was a 
lion of gigantic stature, such as Gerard had never seen 
before. The animal now advanced in a right line 
toward the rock, sometimes crawling and beating the 
sand with fearful blows, his tail serving as a flail; 
sometimes erect, — his mane about four feet wide in 
front. When arrived within forty yards of Gerard, 
the lion excavated a hole in the sand, six feet in 
circumference and eighteen inches deep j then putting 

G 2 



84 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

his mouth in the hole, he began to roar in so terrific a 
manner that all animated creation within hearing 
onght to have been transfixed and unable to mo^e. 
The most remarkable fact was that the lion turned 
round and round the hole when roaring, so as to 
deceive the hearer, who thus could not determine 
from whence the sound proceeded. The strategy of 
the noise being performed, the lion passed to mimicry- 
no less terrible. He made a new move in advance 
toward Gerard, intending to frighten him with his 
glaring, fiery eyes. Sometimes crawling, sometimes 
erect, sometimes beating the sand, sometimes gnashing 
the teeth in a savage manner. The space was now 
considerably lessened^ and the tragedy was nearing 
the final bound. In one jump the monster could 
reach his foe. Gerard raised his gun, and pointed at 
the shoulder, where a ball would destroy the animal 
at once. But the lion was stopped by the puzzling 
triangle. Three small iron rods an inch in diameter, 
six feet high, each forming a reversed pyramid. 
Gerard was so struck with the magnificent form of tbe 
creature, and with the ingenuity of his tactics, that he 
was inwardly regretting the necessity of killing the 
noble brute. Their four eyes were gazing at one 
another with a seeming interrogation. The thunder 
was calm, the animal was puzzled to the utmost at the 
aspect of that other animal which had not been cowed 
by the demonstrations made against him. The lion 
was astonished, feeling himself in presence of a mys- 
tery. He stopped in his advance, turned back, tail 



85 

down, and went quietly off never to show himself 
again. 

Why, then, do not all creatures talk, since they can 
and do utter the sounds from which language is elabo- 
rated ? The reply may take the form of a question — 
How do we know that they do not talk in a way 
sufficient for their needs ? When a hen finds a 
sprinkle of corn, she clucks with a peculiar sound that 
brings her chickens rapidly from every direction in 
the farmyard ; but should a cat appear instead of corn, 
she lifts up her head and utters a sudden noise that 
puts all her brood on guard. This is certainly effective 
language. It will, however, be rejoined that as the 
hen clucks now, so there is every reason to believe she 
always did and always will cluck ; the sound is im- 
pulsively and instinctively uttered, and so on. Human 
beings, on the other hand, do not now utter the same 
sounds they used to utter only a few hundred years 
ago, and we know that, in a few generations, the 
words we now use will cease to be understood. To 
this argument we reply, first, that the fact that lan- 
guage changes need not alter the nature of its origin ; 
and, secondly, that the reason for these changes in 
the use of sounds is to be found in the mental consti- 
tution of man. Granted that animals are purely 
instinctive, — man, we know, certainly is not. Man 
possesses a power of will to do, or not to do, and 
he is not slow to use his power, being ever pursued 
by an insatiable love of change. The spirit of Dis- 
satisfaction with every state in which he may exist, 



86 LINaUISTIC ORIGINES. 

is a very characteristio difference between man and 
brute. '' Man never is, but always to be blest." How 
low soever in the scale of civilization the human being 
may be, we still find him bent on increasing his 
gratifications. Even the most stationary nations are 
always busy in devising new delights, from a constant 
sense of dissatisfaction with those they already enjoy. 
The civilized man is for ever striving to augment his 
wealth; the semi-civilized seeks to gratify in new 
ways his lusts ; the uncivilized strives to increase his 
food. The whole human family is divided among 
these three classes, and in each the mainspring of 
action is Dissatisfaction. As Mr. J. S. Mill wisely 
pointed out, all the improvements in the world result 
from the labour of " discontented " men. This dis- 
satisfied yearning for something not yet attained 
proceeds from cerebral peculiarity. It is man's 
IhiocrvvxpoLcria. Every other creature is satisfied with 
the food it eats and the natural functions it ordinarily 
performs, and manifests no wish to change its ac- 
customed course ; hence they do to-day what they 
did yesterday, for no other reason than because they 
did it the day before ; and this is instinct. How 
man became possessed of his faculty for discontent, 
that is, how man became man, forms no part of this 
treatise to explain. Darwin, Wallace, and Huxley 
have proved conclusively that existing animal natures 
are the results of progressive developments. This is 
a fact ; and it is a fact that accounts perfectly for man's 
possession of articulate speech. The gratification of 



"dissatisfaction" the motor. 87 

the gregarious instinct which the human animal shares 
with the monkey, afforded opportunities for the inter- 
change of cries*; and associated labour in procuring 
food, &c., combined with the constant desire for 
increased gratification, would gradually stamp upon 
those cries more and more precision of meaning, as 
the purposes to which they were applied became more 
and more precise. Hence we see the reason for the 
extreme plasticity of onomatopic bases. One simple 
onomatop may underlie scores of words that grew out 
of the primal idea, as will be abundantly illustrated 
in the next section when discussing the word " Law/' 
Simple onomatops are susceptible of indefinite develop- 
ment, insomuch as to become the grand and expressive 
vocables of the most polished languages. Human 
speech is, indeed, a mass of onomatops. Language 
does not consist of onomatops and something else, but 
of nothing else than developed onomatops. Every 
sound was at one time significative, save only those 
produced by phonetic corruption. Onomatops are, 
therefore, roots — the bases of words; but differ from 
what are ordinarily understood by roots in that they 
are the oi^o/xara struck by nature or natural processes, 
whereas roots are the discoveries of the etymologist. 

The word root has been hitherto misunderstood and 
misapplied. What is termed a root is frequently 
spoken of as a block, devoid of special signification ; 

* See what is said about those born deaf in Inlrod. j). 10. 



88 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

that it bears tlie same relation to a word that a block 
of marble does to a statue. It is said to be a mass 
of crude material which acquires sense and dynamic 
power only upon the performance of certain gram- 
matical operations. As long as these operations are 
unperformed, the root remains inert and lifeless. A 
root, however, cannot be an inutile lignum, a truncus^ 
but the very reverse ; it is a plastic force existing in 
every animal being. It is altogether a misnomer to 
speak of roots at all. We shall see this more clearly 
by reflecting on the manner in which we came by 
our knowledge of roots. The Semitic languages first 
familiarized us with the term, because in those lan- 
guages nearly all the words they contain are palpably 
deduced from sets of articulations, each of which com- 
prises three letters. These three fundamental letters, 
by the operation of certain definite changes in the 
vowels by which they are vocalized^ and by the addi- 
tion of particular auxiliary letters, produce large num- 
bers of words, each of which words bears a definite 
relationship to the three primitive letters on which it 
is based. The identical changes that produce any 
particular word from one triliteral cluster, would pro- 
duce an exactly similar word from any other cluster,* 
— the form of the two words would be alike^ and they 
would differ only in the idea conveyed, which depends, 
of course, upon the meaning of the root operated upon. 
Eut these triliteral roots are never devoid of sense ; 

* This is true theoretically ; in practice every root is not subject 
to every possible grammatical change. 



EXPLANATION OF '* ROOTS." 89 

on the contrary^ they are as perfectly apprehendible as 
the most developed yocable educed from them ; — they 
are, indeed, used as the third person singular of the 
past tense, and so have a constant place in spoken 
language. The word root is only a poetic description 
of the basis of a set of words, which grow from it as 
naturally^ and apparently as irresistibly, as do the stem 
and branches from the root of a herb. The study of 
Sanskrit grammar, however, revealed another kind of 
root which appeared to have no definite relationship to 
the words educed from it, and which was never em- 
ployed in language without some grammatical adjunct^ 
the addition of which not only modified the sense as- 
cribed to the root, but also gave the vitality necessary 
to make it into a real word. What, then, are these 
roots, and how did we come by them ? The answer 
is, that they are mere grammatical abstractions, and 
that we get them from ancient Indian grammarians, 
who subjected their old idiom to an exhaustive pro- 
cess of analysis, and by patiently stripping off fragment 
after fragment from the word in common use, ultimately 
arrived at a monosyllabic residuum to less than which 
the word could not be reduced without destroying its 
individuality. This final residuum was called by the 
Indians a dhdtu^ which literally means an ''ore" or 
^'mineral," — the crude material from which the fin- 
ished vocable was wrought. It will, therefore, be 
evident that there is nothing sacred and inviolable iu 
Sanskrit roots, nothing connected with them that need 
be spoken of with awe, or wrought into any poetry ; 



90 LINGUISTIC ORiaiNES. 

they are nothing more nor less than the smallest frag- 
ments to which Indian grammarians, according to the 
lights they possessed, were able to reduce the words of 
their language. This consideration will, we think, 
modify somewhat the superstitious reverence with 
which Sanskrit roots are generally regarded. "It is 
a Sanskrit root " is, apparently, held by many to be a 
conclusiye argument — the ultima Thule — the last ap- 
peal. Any doubt upon the finality of a root is regarded 
as a kind of profanation, or a mania, akin to disbelief 
in the rotundity of the earth or the motion of the 
celestial bodies. Mr. Wedgwood makes the following 
very sensible observations on roots, which we quote 
entire, as they cannot be repeated too often until the 
present practice of philologists is abandoned : — 

'^ Etymology is still at the stage where an arbitrary theory 
is accepted as the basis of scientific explanation. It is sup- 
posed that all language is developed from roots or skeletons 
of articulate sound, endowed with distinct and often very ab- 
stract meaning, but incapable of being actually used in speech 
until properly clothed in grammatical forms. And this 
theory of roots takes the place of the elementary powers which 
form the basis of other sciences. The etymologist, who suc- 
ceeds in tracing a word to a Sanskrit root, is as well satisfied 
with the account he has rendered of his problem, as the astro- 
nomer who traces an irregularity in the orbit of a comet to 
the attraction of a planet, within whose influence it has been 
brought in its last revolution. Now in what condition is it 
possible that roots could have existed, before they were actually 
used in speech ? If it be suggested that they were implanted 
by nature in the mind of man, as some people have supposed 
that the bones of mammoths were created, at the same stroke 
with the other materials of the strata in which they are buried 



3JR. WEDGWOOD ON ''ROOTS." 91 

— we can only say that it is directly opposed to anything we 
observe in infants of the present day. But if it be said that 
no one supposes that the roots, as such, ever had independent 
existence ; that they are merely fictions of the grammarians 
to indicate the core of a group of related words having simi- 
lar significations, or if they are regarded as the re- 
mains of some former condition of language, then they cease 
to afford a solid resting-place, and the origin of the roots 
themselves becomes as fit an object of inquiry, as of the words 
in actual use at the present day. Nor will the curiosity of a 
rational inquirer be satisfied until he meets with a principle 
adequate to give rise to the use of language in a being with a 
mental constitution, such as he is conscious of in himself, 
or observes in the course of development in the infants grow- 
ing up around him.^'' — (Introduction, pp. ii. iii.) 

We ourselves are anxious to be counted among the 
most devoted admirers of the wonderful scholarship 
enshrined in the noble language of the Brahmans, but 
we have not brought ourselves to the conviction that 
those ancient scholars were possessed of all linguistic 
knowledge, insomuch that their deductions are beyond 
all doubt the last words on the subject. On the 
contrary, we are rash enough to think that their 
conclusions are still open to the criticisms of scholars ; 
but at the same time we are prepared to receive their 
dicta with much reverence, from the conviction that 
the grammatical system of the Hindus represents the 
accumulated wisdom of generations of patient and 
pains-taking workers, who laboured with unprecedented 
and, as yet, unrivalled zeal to elucidate the facts of 
their marvellous idiom. With thoughts and feelings 
such as these, and with a knowledge of the way in 



92 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

■which Sanskrit roots were educed, we do not hesitate 
to deal with these roots as we should deal with any- 
other abstractions of former writers. 

As we have before said, it is a misnomer to speak 
of roots at all. The attentive reader of this book 
will find the clearest evidence that what are ordi- 
narily considered roots are in reality developed forms 
of yet earlier roots. Let us take as an illustration the 
root krit^ meaning " cut." The bases kut^ kutt, hash, 
and karn are certainly developed from krit by mere 
phonetic corruption. The form kut^ with the guttural 
softened to a palatal gives birth to chut^ chatty chunt^ 
chund, and chtm. When the cerebral t passes into r, 
as is frequently the case, from kut we also get kshuVj 
and from this last khur^ and chhur^ chho^ chhut, and 
with a reappearance of the dental, as in krit^ — chhid, 
chhidr, and chhed. The roots kshad, khad^ hhand^ 
khud^ khund, khan^ are parallel forms closely related 
to krit These many roots, all of which have the 
same meaning, '' cut," must have been developed the 
one from the other. Again, the base klis^ ''to be 
distressed," exists also in the forms khid, kut, kunt, 
kutt, kmid^ kath^ kut. The word for " give " is found 
under the following forms : dd^ day, day, das, das, 
dad, dadh,dhd ; and the word ^' grind" is expressed 
by the bases mrid, mrad, mut, munt, math, mud, 
mund. Such instances might be indefinitely multi- 
plied, and they prove conclusively that by far the 
greater number of the Aryan roots we possess are 
developments from yet earlier roots. It is, however, 



C4 T^y^^m" 



ROOT A MISNOMER. 93 

absurd to speak of the root of a root, and we, there- 
fore, eschew the term altogether. We call them bases ; 
and when our investigation reaches beyond them to 
yet earlier forms, we find no inconsistency in speaking 
of the base of a base. 

In the Introduction (pp. 23, 27, 39), we have shown 
how primitive descriptive sounds became consolidated 
into words. In this section we have endeavoured to 
make clear the sense in which we employ the term 
onomatop^ because in that consists the essential diffe- 
rence between our views and those of former writers. 
The sense in which we employ that term permits us 
to answer the most difficult problem in the Science of 
Language, viz. the natural construction of bases or 
roots. The root is the ultima Thule^ or ratio^ of all 
preceding writers, even of Mr. Wedgwood ; for he only 
seeks to explain roots by referring them to some natural 
action which he believes to be graphically depicted by 
the sound that expresses it. Professor Max Miiller 
does not attempt an explanation, — ^^ Every thing in 
language, except the roots, is intelligible," he says.^ 
The disciples of that excellent scholar have not yet 
advanced beyond their master, as witnesses the follow- 
ing from the Saturday Review of May 31, 1873'': — 
" Let us take any Aryan root, say the root vid. When 
we have traced all the various cognate forms up to 
the root, there we stick ; we can get no further. We 
see that vid means to see^ and therefore to kiiow^ but 

* Science of Language, I. p. 260. ^ S. R. vol. 35, p. 720. 



94 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

we cannot say whj it should mean to see. If Mr. 
Wedgwood can tell us, we shall sincerely thank him. 
If he can show us how vid came to have the meaning 
of seeing whether by onomatopoeia or by any other 
process, we shall not have to give up one tittle of 
what we have already made out by the Comparative 
method; we shall only have learned something else 
into the bargain." Our definition of an onomatop will, 
we think, materially aid in the elucidation of such 
questions, by permitting bases to be dismembered and 
resolved into elemental fragments, as will be illus- 
trated further on in this Preefamen. 

The filling up of lexicons is a mere question of time 
and endeavour ; the process once begun the result 
became inevitable. Sounds expressive of the simplest 
actions, &> 'g', gullet, swallow, •/*, lick, tongue, -p* 
lip, suck, &c., gradually lost their spontaneous cha- 
racter by constant repetition, and so became the sym- 
bols of ideas. At first they were mere noises, produced 
by a particular organ, naturally calling attention to 
that organ and its functions ; and as long as they re- 
mained so they would be in what we might call the 
" spontaneous " stage of language, in which any noise 
could be used by any being to serve any purpose 
desired. Gradually one complexion of sound, from its 
more expressive character, would gain the predomi- 
nance over others, and it would then cease to be spon- 
taneous ; it would have become a recognized name, a 
word, the symbol of an idea. These symbols of ideas 



INTELLIGIBILITY OF BASES. 95 

acquired intensity by doubling, as g'g'^ gar-gle, Fr. 
gor-ge, &c., and, losing their intensiveness by fami- 
liarity, were revivified by fresh duplication, or modified 
and distinguished from each other by the addition of 
other sounds as the humanizing process proceeded. 
These added sounds need not all of them have pre- 
viously existed as separate onomatops with special 
meanings of their own ; analogy would rather lead to 
the conclusion that many of them must have been 
added by way of stress or accent, or as descriptive of 
particular states or actions. As Mr. Wedgwood has 
pointed out, sounds such as posh^ blob, gob, &c., are 
highly descriptive ; they need no interpreter ; it is 
impossible to differ as to the ideas their utterance 
awakens. The cerebral sibilant is a sound of this 
character, and it seems to have been added to many 
Aryan words as a kind of intensifier. Instances are 
found in the words rush, crash, crush, dash, splash, 
smash, with which may be contrasted run, creak, crack, 
dab, smack. The latter are clearly not so forcible as 
the former. The following Aryan bases all mean 
** strike," ^ injure/' and in each case the cerebral sibi- 
lant seems added solely for the purpose of exaggerating 
the sound, because simpler forms exist for most of 
them : — ish, ush, kash, kishk, khash, ghush, chash, 
jash, jush, jush, jhash, jhush, dhush, dhrish, pash, 
pish J prish, bash, briish, yush, rlsh, rush, lush, vash, 
vrish, nilsh, mush, sash, sish, hishk, 

A sharp dental, also, would give an idea of finality 
and decision to any onomatop, — an idea covered by 



96 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

such words as down^ done with, there^ there's an end. 
The following bases are oifered in illustration: — at 
or it, to bind up ; krit^ to wrap up ; hrit^ to cut up ; 
kit (from M)^ to know ; chit^ to wake up ; chrit^ to blaze 
up ; dyut^ jyut, jut, yut, to sparkle ; nrit^ to lead forth, 
dance (jiri^ to lead) ; pat^ to fall down ; yat^ to knock 
about ; and^a^, to strive after {yd^ to go for). This sharp 
dental t by the air of decision it imparts to bases, is a 
rather apt exponent of the ideas intended by there^ 
thatj and is what may be called '^ the remote definite." 
Considering it to have this sense the results are not a 
little curious when we seek to analyse old bases. For 
example the Sanskrit sad is the same as the English 
sit.set^ which maybe resolved into s't\ the 5* = '^ exist" 
(Sans, as J English is^ Lat. ^-um), and the ^- = '^ there.'' 
Sit is then the equivalent of ''exist there," which is 
by no means an unreasonable explanation. The base 
sthd^ ''stand," (Lat. sto^ stare) admits of a similar 
rendering ; but here the dental t or th has more the 
force of "down," so that sthd may mean "exist down," 
"be placed." The word "down" itself will be seen 
to be based upon a dental, which in Sanskrit takes the 
asper under the form adhas^ and the preposition adhi 
= super, upon, which may also come from the notion 
of placing down one thing upon another. 

The letter s, besides its sense of ^^ being," is also 
commonly used to define that which is near, whether 
the nearness be of likeness or of vicinity. In this 
sense we find it in the Sanskrit sah, "he," " this ;" 
sa and saha, " along with," in the preposition sam, 



ANALYSES OF BASES. 97 

"with," and as the sign of the nominative case in 
Sanskrit and Latin. The Hindi ablative se, " with, 
through, by means of," is another instance. The 
letter s most clearly marks the difference between this 
and that in English ; this meaning " the defined which 
is near," and that^ '' the defined which is remote." 
For this reason we call s " the proximate definite." 
Abundant illustrations are readily found for its sense 
of nearness of likeness in such words as same^ similar^ 
such^ thu-s^ as^ so, the Sanskrit samuj '^ like," the 
Hindi sd, " like," '^ similar ;" and, in composition^ in 
such words as aisd, " this-like," waisd, " that-like," 
&c., &c. The letter s in the form sam was frequently 
used in Sanskrit grammar as a verbal prefix to indicate 
proximity, as samgam = "- to go with," samjnd = " to 
be conversant with ;" but this prefix was felt to be 
an addition to the base, insomuch that the verbal 
augment was inserted between it and the base ; thus 
in the preterite we say sam-a-gachchhat^ " he went 
with/' sam-a-jdnita^ " he was conversant with," and 
not a-sangachchhat^ a-sanjdnita. The more recent 
Sanskrit books, as for example the Mahabharata, do, 
however, frequently place the augment in a position 
that shows a disposition on the part of these preposi- 
tions to become welded on to the verbal stems. The 
very preposition of which we are now speaking is 
treated thus in Mahabh. i. 5515, where we meet the 
word anwasancharat^ " he traversed " {anu-a-sam- 
char-at)^ instead of the regular form anusam-a-cJiarat. 
Here the preposition sam has lost its independence. 



98 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

and is become welded on to the base char^ wbich thus 
becomes sanchar^ and then takes the augment as a 
simple verb {asancharat). This process accounts 
fully for the presence of the letter s as an initial in 
many Aryan bases. Sam, as Professor Th. Benfey 
points out, is the accusative singular of m, and is 
frequently employed without the inflexional mark in 
such words as saphala^ "fruitful," " with fruit." Just 
on this model we find the base sabhaj, meaning " to 
serve," and also the base bhaj, " to serve," the former 
being clearly a developed form of the latter ; and it is, 
therefore, not unfair to suppose that sanj^ ''to be 
attached," really grew out of sam-ga^ " to go with," 
or that such a base as say^ " to go/' is deduced from 
sa + i^ ''to accompany." That the prefix sa or sam 
can dwindle down to s only, we have positive proof, 
in the case of sarj^ " to acquire," which is clearly 
arj^ " to acquire," with the addition of an s prefix, as 
both Westergaard^ and Benfey^ properly state. 

This long argument on the prefix s will, we hope, 
strengthen our conjectures as to the origin of some 
Aryan bases. To apply this notion to the analysis of 
a base we will select stri^ to " stretch," every letter of 
which appears to be significative. To stretch is to 
extend from here to there connectedly ; and the sound 
stri exactly represents that complex idea. Thus, as 
we have just been arguing, s — '•'- with," " likeness," 
" connection," " alliance," so removing the 5 from the 
base we are examining, tri remains. Now tri is also 

* Kadices Sanscritse. ^ Sansk. Diet. s. v. 



ANALYSIS OF BASES. 99 

a base, meaning " to cross over," " to go there^' the t 
being the remote definite. When the t is removed ri 
is left, also a Sanskrit base meaning '' go/^ " move ;" 
and as the trill of the r most frequently imparts 
nothing else than a sense of rapidity to bases, that 
also may be removed and we find the vowel i finally 
remaining, which is the well known Aryan base, 
the %-re of Latin ; Greek, t-eWt ; '^ to go," " to move." 
Synthetically we have, — i = go ; ri = go quickly, 
and after losing its intensive character, simply 
" go ;" tri =. " go there," " cross over ;" stri — " go 
there connectedly," " to stretch." Each of the four 
letters composing sfri is thus, not improbably, a sepa- 
rate onomatop ; and if this is thus shown to be the 
case in one instance, the probability that it is gene- 
rally true is much strengthened. That the letter s is 
only accessory to Sanskrit bases, admits of ready proof 
from the following set of double bases : — sri and ri 
both mean " go ;" svri and vri = " go ;" srip and ri 
or rep =: ^^move;" svari and vrit = " turn;" sphal 
and phal = "expand;" sphul andphul = " expand"; 
skhad and khad — ^'' be firm ;" spas and pas — " injure;" 
and sagli^ " strike," formed of sa + han^ lian standing 
for an original ghan^ as shown by the 3rd pers. plu. 
pres. ghnanti^ " they strike," and by the redupl. pret. 
jaghdna^ " he struck." 

These illustrations are sufficient for our present 
purpose, which is to make it clear that bases as they 
now exist are in reality composite factors, and so 
establish the conclusion that we must look l^eyond 

II 2 



100 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

them for the onomatopic bases of language. Onoma- 
tops are thus reduced to the simplest proportions, to 
the elemental articulations upon which modern words 
are based. These elementary sounds will be found 
to be related to, and to be expressive of, the natural 
functions of animal nature, and to be destitute of all 
that is miraculous on the one hand, or poetic on the 
other. 



SECTION III. 

COLLECTIVE ANALYSIS. 

It will be evident to the reader that we are not 
guided entirely by the ordinary rules of comparative 
philology. Some words of explanation are, therefore, 
necessary so that it should not be thought that we 
recognize no restraints whatever. The present school 
of philologists lays great stress on the difference be- 
tween base and termination, and we quite agree with 
them in maintaining this intrinsic difference. We 
agree also with other philologists in separating pre- 
fixes from the base ; so that, being agreed on these 
fundamentals, it is evident that we work by method, 
and are not mere dreamers. Where we differ from 
philologists is in the treatment of the residual base. 
After the separation of prefix and termination, the 
remaining portion of a word is generally considered 
irresolvable into simpler elements. So much is this 
the case that every philologist seeks to carry a word 
up to its most antique form before eliminating the 
radical, and when he has done this he thinks that he 
has the word in its purest form and can do no more. 
Here we differ ; for it is our opinion that the bases 



102 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

themselves show marks of alliance and divergence 
sufficient to allow the inquirer to detect bonds of 
union among classes of bases, leading to the conviction 
that many of the oldest bases we possess are them- 
selves compounds, formed by the aggregating or weld- 
ing on of more ancient formatives. This fact, for we 
think ourselves entitled to speak of it as a fact, has 
been noticed by Professor Max Miiller. In discussing 
some roots in his work on the Science of Language, 
that scholar points to the undoubted connection be- 
tween tud^ tup^ tuph^ tuj^ tur, tur^ turv^ tuh^ tug^ and 
between yu^ yuj^ yudh^ &c. In these instances we 
find a general idea of " striking " expressed by the 
letter t' with varying adjuncts, which have the effect 
of defining to some extent the particular kind of 
striking each base is intended to express. In the other 
case the letter y •, with a primary sense of junction, is 
combined with other letters which discriminate between 
many ways of associating things together, ^ow we 
maintain that it is very unscientific to hold that each 
of the words yu^ yuj, yudh^ had an independent origin, 
and that the presence of the same initial is due to 
accident or chance ; on the contrary, we think it more 
conformable to reason to believe that the initial is one 
and the same primitive base modified by certain ad- 
juncts, which in course of time and by certain repeti- 
tion in a particular sense, have ultimately lost all trace 
of independence, and so are become indissolubly welded 
on to the parent stock. This indeed seems to be the 
opinion of Professor Max Midler with regard to these 



ALLIANCES AMONG BASES. 103 

particular bases, and he considers that a large number 
of other Aryan roots came to their present forms by a 
similar process. That eminent scholar does not, how- 
ever, say how far he would be prepared to allow the 
operation of this law ; and it is very apparent that 
the philologists who think they follow his teaching will 
not allow it any operation whatever. The oldest form 
preserved in literature is treated as the oldest possible 
form of a base, and any attempt to apply inductive 
reasoning to the elimination of the earliest forms of 
words is looked upon as idle dreaming. 

A little reflection will convince the reader that for 
the purpose of reaching the ultimate base of a word 
the more modern forms are in some respects as useful 
as the more ancient. If sense naturally attaches it- 
self to particular sounds, it is evident that as soon as 
those sounds were entirely eliminated the word would 
become senseless; hence it follows that the most 
modern words, which we know by experience to possess 
sense, must contain within themselves the primitive 
bases upon which they are built. It is the task of 
the philologist to point out that central and vital 
spot around which successive strata of modificatory 
sounds have clustered, and too frequently almost ob- 
literated. 

A necessary preliminary to this inquiry is an ex- 
amination of the phonetic changes which words have 
undergone independently of accretions of sense-modi- 
fying adjuncts. We have before (p. 37) alluded to 
this in the Introduction, as one of the laws of change 



104 LINGUISTIC OEIGINES. 

to which words are subject, and we recur to it here in 
order to show to how great an extent it transforms the 
appearance of words. The instances we shall shortly 
cite will be such as are undoubtedly known to have 
been evolyed from each other ; and it will, we believe, 
be admitted that the words among which we seek to 
establish a relationship are in no case so diverse in 
appearance. 

Let us take the common word am, which is only 
another way of pronouncing the French word suis. 
The two words are identical in both base and inflexion, 
and one is merely a phonetic corruption of the other. 
The French suis and Italian sono^ represent the Latin 
sum, in which the letter m of the Anglo-Saxon eom 
makes its appearance. The Latin sum^ is the equiva- 
lent of the Greek eljjLt, the Lithuanian esmi, and the 
Sanskrit asmi, the last being a compound of as, 'Hhe 
existing," mi " (of) me," i.e., I exist. Here we have 
unanswerable evidence that am and suis are only 
phonetic varieties of the same word. 

Further instances of identical words strangely differ- 
ing in appearance are found in the French gu^pe, the 
representative of the English wasp ; the Sanskrit 
yakrit^ Greek, rjirap^ Latin, jecur (liver) ; Sanskrit 
ydjya, Greek aytos (holy) ; Sanskrit udra^ Greek iwh- 
pLs (other) ; ^SLUskrit yatas, Greek 66ei' (whence). From 

^ L. Delatre, La Langue Fran9aise dans ses Eapports avec le 
Sanscrit, Introduction, page 6. 

^ JE'Sum was the old form for sufiiy simus for sumus ; subj. present 
was stem, sies, siet, &c., for sim, sis, sit. 



1 

( 



I 

PHONETIC CORRUPTIONS. 105 

an analogous cause words passing from one people to 
another are, at times, completely changed into other 
words of somewhat similar sound ; thus the apple 
known in France as helle et honne^ ''beautiful and 
good," appears in English as belly-bound ; and, as is 
well known, the ship Bellerophon is called by our 
English tars the Bully-ruffian. In a similar way 
Sandy-acre, a parish in Derbyshire, is meant for 
Saint Diacre, '' the holy deacon ;" and the hill in 
Oxfordshire called Shotover was named from the 
Chateau vert^ or ^' green castle." Sparrow-grass is 
as near as some people can approach the pronunciation 
of asparagus^ and Beef-eater has completely supplanted 
the old buffetier^ '' side-board attendant." Filibusters 
is from the French Flibustiers, a corruption of the 
YtUglinhJreebooters. The signs of public-houses afford 
familiar instances of phonetic corruption, changing 
^'God encompasses us" into the "Goat and Com- 
passes," and the "Bacchanals" of Chelsea into a 
" Bag o' Nails." 

The Greek language furnishes us with a set of 
almost systematic changes ; such as a Prothesis, which 
prefixes a letter or a syllable to the beginning of a 
word, as re-rayo)!^ for joryoiv from ra^^ct) ; — an Aphse- 
resis, which, on the contrary, takes away a letter or syl- 
lable from the beginning of a vocable, as opjy) (Ionic) 
for lopTT] ; — a Syncope, which takes away a letter or 
syllable from the middle of a word, as eyevro for 
iyevcTo ; — an Epen thesis, or the insertion of a letter 



106 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

or syllable in the middle of a vocable, as eWa^e for 
eXa^e; — an Apocope, which cuts off a letter or syllable 
from the end of a word, as Scu for Sw/xa ; — or a Para- 
goge, which occurs when an addition is made to the 
last syllable of a word, as '^aOa for -i;?, irvTrTecrKe for 
eTVTTTe, 

The singular disfigurement noticeable in these words 
is produced mainly by phonetic corruption ; and when 
we see such striking divergences developing in historic 
times we are prepared to believe that analogous changes 
took place at a yet earlier period. 

Indian grammarians have not overlooked these 
modulations in the sounds of words, and have em- 
bodied some of their conclusions in the following 
rule : — 

BYor bJjOS tadvaj jYor BYor api — 
ssor MN0<9 chdnte savisargdvisargayoh \\ 
Savinduhdvindukayoh sydd ahhedenakalpanam \ 
" The letters r and l, p and l, j and y, b and v, 
s and s ; m and n ; a final visarga [K] or its omission ; 
and a final nasal mark or its omission, are always 
optional, there being no difference between them." * 

Here it will be remarked that some of the permuta- 
tions which we point out, and which, we suspect, will 
meet with much scepticism among European scholars, 
are looked upon as well known and established facts 
that admit of no controversy. It is upon the mutual 

* Wilson's Sanskrit Dictionary, Preface, p. xlii. 



PALJEOGRAPHIC CORRUPTION. 107 

convertibility of r, l, and p,^ and the optional inser- 
tion or rejection of a nasal, that we base our belief in 
the unity of the words ^oz^er and expand (in Sect. lY.), 
and the more we examine that matter the more are 
we convinced of the truth of the alliance. 

The foregoing examples of phonetic change, which, 
we think, will not be disputed, aflPord sufficient evidence 
that the corruptions to which words are liable are 
practically limitless. With such instances before one's 
face, it seems mere idle quibbling to object to a deri- 
vation because s has unaccountably become k^ or p has 
been replaced by m, or because vowels have been 
interchanged or elided. Mr. Wedgwood says very 
truly that the only rule for palseographic permutation 
is that any letter may interchange with any other 
letter; and it is almost labour thrown away to 
attempt a systematic classification of anything so 
capricious. It is notorious that no two districts in 
any country pronounce the words of their common 
language alike ; it is even questionable whether any 
two people can be found who can give to any word 
exactly the same phonetic power. Nature has endowed 
us with boundless diversity in this as in all other 
things, and we must expect that this diversity in the 

* Scholars will find European examples ready to hand in — 
^uKpv . . . Lacryina. 

oAvo-trevj . . . uLysses. 

oDor . . . oLeo. 

cicaDa . . . cicaLa, Ital., cigaLc, Fr. 

aegiDius . . . giLles, &c., &c., &c. 



108 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

appreciation of sound and in the capacity to imitate it, 
will also show itself in the symbols intended to present 
sounds to the eye. In Somersetshire the sound given 
to the word this is, to a Londoner's ear, exactly like 
thik. We know that the two words are identical in 
construction, and are supposed to be identical in sound 
by their respective utterers.^ The same change is to 
be remarked in India, where the word for " language" 
is both written and pronounced hhdshd and bhdkhd 
indifferently. So identical are the sounds kh and sh 
thought to be in India, that the writers of many 
manuscripts employ one or other of these letters 
throughout, to do duty for both sounds in any words 
in which they may occur. The Sanskrit swan, a dog, 
which reappears in the Greek word Kvoiv, kvv6<;, then 
in Lat. canis^ catulus, French, chien, Ital. can, 0. H. G. 
hunon, Saxon, German and Swedish, hund, Esthon. 
hunt^ Scotch and English, hound^ — shows us that, as 
an initial also, a guttural, palatal, or asper, may sup- 
plant a sibilant. If we, now, only imagine a word 
having an initial, medial, and final sibilant converted, 
on the principle of these examples, in each case into a 
letter of another class, such a word, though a mere 
phonetic corruption, would be unrecognizable, and 
would be treated by all philologists as an independent 
creation. 

Instances of s becoming k acknowledged by scholars, 
are found in the following : — 

a These provincialisms are very numerous in all languages. 



PAL^OGRAPHIC CORRUPTION. 



109 



Sanskrit, 


Greek, 


English, 


swasura . 


. iKvp6<; . 


. father-in-law. 


swasrii 


eKvpa 


. mother-in-law . 


parasu 


. 7Te\€KVq . 


. an axe. 


sankha 


. Kovxn 


. . a shell. 


asu 




. . swift. 


asman 


aKfjicov 


. . stone.* 


sringa 


. ACe/Dtt? 


. . cornu, Lat., horn 



Another remarkable instance of phonetic corruption 
is the interchange of l with n, two letters which 
appear to have nothing in common. The following 
will, nevertheless, show that they have been used as 
equivalents of each other : — 



Lat 


Lympha 


. 


. Gr, Nvfi(t>r}, 


Gr. 


Airpov {yirpov) 


Lat, Nitrum. 


Lat 


L-wtra 


. 


Span, Nutria. 


Lat 


Lamella 


.» 


Prov, Namela. 


Lat 


Lib-ella 




Fr, Niv-eau. 


Ital. 


veLeno 




Lat veNenum. 


Span. 


ca-Lange 




Lat. caNonicus. 


Span. 


comuLgar 




Lat. commuNicare. 


Fr, 


orpheLin 




. . Lat, orphaNus. 


Sans. 


Langhana 




. . Hindi Nanghna (trespass) 


Sans. 


Langala 




. . Hindi Nangar (plough). 



Doubtless a very useful work is accomplished when 
any scholar discovers the laws by which letters inter- 
change when passing from one particular language 



* aic/iwi/, used by Homer, is an anvil. 



110 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

into another. Such discoveries clear away many 
mists of uncertainty, and, as in the case of Grimm's 
law for the convertibility of tenues into aspers, in 
Sanskrit, Latin^ and German, give at times a secure 
base of operations from which to advance to future 
conquests. Indeed one such demonstration of regular 
action, like the law of universal gravitation, evolves 
harmony out of discord, and conducts almost of neces- 
sity to conclusions akin to those sought to be esta- 
blished in this work. 

Here the question as to what is to be considered the 
real base of a word naturally suggests itself. If any 
letter may interchange with any other letter at the 
beginning, middle^ and end of a word, what point 
d^appui remains on which to rest our confidence that 
any word is certainly the confrere of any other word ? 
To this we would reply that, in our opinion, the 
result of former attempts to connect particular words 
together has proved that there is no certain means 
of recognizing congenital characteristics. It is no- 
torious that very absurd mistakes have been made by 
allying words somewhat similar in form; so absurd 
indeed have been the results that philologists now-a- 
days very properly pay no attention whatever to acci- 
dental resemblances or differences, but rely entirely 
on historical evidence and the operation of such phonetic 
laws as have hitherto been discovered. But, as has 
just been shown, the ^oivr) is so capricious a manifesta- 
tion of the Xdyo9 that the very cautious method now 
pursued by philologists prevents their tracking vocables 



SENSE-GIVING ATOM IN WOEDS. Ill 

through more than a fractional part of their wanderings, 
and allows their deductions to culminate in only vague 
generalities about the possible development of language 
from a few hundreds of primitive bases. It is this 
state of the science which has led us to suggest the 
system of Collective Analysis, illustrated in this book, 
and which promises to unlock many of the sphinx- 
like riddles that have hitherto teazed inquirers. It 
is by the simultaneous examination of collections of 
words in one and the same language, which are more 
or less indefinitely related to each other in meaning, 
that we hope to arrive at some unchanging or recog- 
nizable central point which may be taken as the sense- 
giving element, and therefore the base of the whole 
congeries. It is true that at last we can give no more 
definite shape to the base we eliminate than a single 
letter ; but this is so because we wish to keep ourselves 
clear of assertions which it is impossible to verify. 
The consentient opinion of all scholars is that modern 
words arose from monosyllabic bases ; and it would 
therefore follow that all words are resolvable into 
some simple sound, the vocalizing element of which 
must ever remain a moot point, and which we repre- 
sent by a dot both before and after a consonant to 
indicate uncertainty as to whether the vowel preceded 
or followed the letter. It must not, however, be 
supposed that we promise to reduce every word to 
such modest proportions. It forms no part of our 
programme to reduce the Greek language to the 
letter i, or the whole speech of mankind to seven 



112 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

primitives, as has been seriously attempted in times 
past ; neither do we suppose that this will be the last 
book ever written on the subject, and that it will 
for ever set at rest all doubts and scruples connected 
with etymology. Our ambition has more reasonable 
bounds; as we only seek to lead the way in a 
new method of investigation, which promises, by the 
combined labours of such scholars as think our method 
worthy of elaboration, to establish relationship among 
large classes of words hitherto thought to be distinct, 
and in this way to reduce materially the number of 
necessary bases, and finally to prove that each arose 
as the natural expression of a common want, — natural, 
as the imitative expression not of the sound of bird 
and beast, but of the very idea intended to be con- 
veyed. The bases resulting from our exhaustive 
system of analysis are undoubtedly genuine onomatops, 
and, when discovered, commend themselves to our 
intelligence ; as in the identification of the letter / 
as the phonetic exponent of the tongue's action (p. 141), 
in that of g as the representative of the throat 
(Introd. p. 27), and in that of jo as the puffing symbol 
{see Sect. IV.). 

What we mean by " collective analysis " can only 
be explained by an example ; and we therefore append 
the following examination of the word ^' Law." Here 
we may as well add the general remark that in seeking 
to probe language down to its ultimate bases, we 
would be understood as laying no great stress on the 
alliances which we endeavour to show to be subsisting 



113 

between particular words. What we mainly seek to 
establish is the recognition of new principles in the 
treatment of bases. If we succeed in proving the 
ultimate connexion and positive affiliation of numbers 
of words hitherto supposed to be distinct one from 
the other, it will matter little that particular 
alliances may afterwards be shown to be doubtful or 
erroneous. 

It will be remarked that we do not deal with letters 
so much as with phonic or syllabic instants, pulsations 
of sound which do not change letter by letter, but 
sound by sound. To give an example, vri becomes 
wri^ whor^ wel^ &c., by phonetic, not palseographic 
transmutation. The modulations of syllabic instants 
may be well illustrated by this sound, vri^ which is 
a Sanskrit base, meaning " go round,'^ '' surround." 
It presents us with the following among other 
changes : — wrea-th (to go round the head), wri-the (to 
turn round about), wri-ng^ and wre-nch (to twist any- 
thing round), wri-ggle (to twist round), wri-nkle (that 
which is so twisted), wel-ter (to roll about), wel-t (a 
small roll or crease), wel-kin (that which surrounds) 
the worl-d or e-or-th, both of which are forms of or-bs^ 
Latin. To wra-p is to inclose anything, a wal-l is an 
enclosure ; to ware is to make a ship turn away from 
its course, to make it go a-wry ; and to be war-y is 
to circumvent, to make any one subservient to your 
wil-l (see p. 40), to get them into your wiles or 
toils. A wheel is so called from its circular and 
revolving character, and a wJior-l is a circular arrange- 

I 



114 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

ment of any kind ; to wiel-d a sword is to make to go 
round^ to whir-lit about, so as to OYerwhel-m the foe 
or co-ver him with confusion. A whel-h is a curly 
shell-fish ; a wire is a flexible object that will turn 
tO'Ward-s any point ; and a wil-d or weir-d creature 
is one that wanders round about according to its own 
will. The fact that these words have reached us 
through different Aryan channels in no wise affects 
their utility for the present purpose, as they all come 
from one primitive base, which appears in Sanskrit as 
vri. Here, then, we have the idea of circular motion 
expressed by «;H, wri^ wry^ wre^ wrea^ weir, wir, 
war^ ver, or^ wel^ wal^ wil^ wiel, whel, whil, tvhor, 
worl, and wheel^ all of which are clearly but different 
forms of each other. The greater part of such trans- 
mutations were wrought by people innocent of alpha- 
bets, who repeated the sounds they heard uttered 
in the best way they were able, without any regard 
to the appearance their words would present upon 
paper. 

It is also proper to remark that in our opinion too 
much stress is at times laid upon the differences 
between what are called vowels. It should be re- 
membered that vowels have, in reality, no substantive 
existence in language, — the Semitic languages entirely 
ignore them. Yowels are merely vocalizations of the 
consonants, and they differ from each other solely 
according to the place in the mouth at which the 
emission of sound is permitted, and the more or less 
degree of relaxation of the throat. They pass into 



THE WORD " LAW." 115 

each other in the following order : — i, e, a, o, u ;* — i 
being the sharpest and most guttural, the rest opening 
out one after the other as the muscles of the throat 
are relaxed, and the vibration approaches nearer and 
nearer to the front of the mouth. Hence it follows 
that hi differs from ka solely from the fact that in 
pronouncing the k in the latter case the throat is 
somewhat more relaxed ; and so of any other vocaliza- 
tion. With these preparatory explanations, we proceed 
to discuss the word ^' Law.'' 

"Law." 

A word is used in the title of this book which has 
sorely puzzled etymologists, and given rise to much 
curious speculation. The word " law " is, as it were, 
'^Nobody's child"; no parent has, as yet, been found 
for it; its raison d^etre is still undemonstrated. It 
is, therefore, an excellent subject on which to operate 
by our method of collective analysis, for the purpose 
of arriving at some definite result. 

As soon as we bring together the congeners of laiv 
we see that they agree in only one particular, which 
is, in containing the letter /, and this of itself is prima 
facie evidence that the sense of the word attaches, in 
an especial degree, to that part of the word. It is 
true that, at times, the sense-giving clement in a word 
entirely disappears ; but though this takes place in a 
few words in each language, it is incredi])lc that many 

* Continental pronunciation. 

i2 



116 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

different languages could all have dropped the essen- 
tial sound, and could all have united in preserving 
some merely adventitious adjunct. The letter / may, 
therefore, be fairly held to represent the base of the 
word law {lak, laga, Anglo-Saxon ; lag, Old Norse ; 
lea;^ Latin ; Xey w, Greek ; laie, Norman French ; loi^ 
French ; legge^ Italian ; lege^ Wallach.; lege, Eussian; 
lage, Swedish ; ley^ Spanish ; lauwe, Dutch). 

Now the a: of the Latin lex we know stands for a 
simple guttural, which comes to light in the genitive 
legis, exactly presenting the shape of the Anglo-Saxon 
laga, and Icelandic lag. In Old English the sound of 
g- or ^ was frequently softened into y ; hence the word 
laga passed by phonetic change into ley, and its use 
in this form directs us to the sense attaching to the 
word. Thus while ley meant simply law, a ley-gager, 
was a- gage deposited or laid down to abide an issue ; 
it was a gager in law. While the word ley-gager^ 
from its nature, preserved a technical sense, the same 
form in ley-land {lea^ ley. Norm. Fr.), or fallow land, 
— land lying dormant, — never lost a general, and 
therefore original import. The base, then, of laga^ a 
law, is to be found also in ligan^ A.S., to lay or place; 
which is further illustrated by the Old English word 
leke, lawful, closely allied to league^ — the Fr. ligue^ 
Ital. legua^ Lat. ligare, to bind. 

Norman French is a language which had a consider- 
able effect in moulding the forms which words in Eng- 
lish ultimately assumed, and the remarkable changes 
which the word we are discussing undergoes in Nor- 



117 

man French will help the reader to understand how 
such forms as the Latin ligo, lego^ and lex^ passed into 
each other. The word law in Norm. Fr. is written 
lai, layde, laie, lei/e, lee, ly ; and in the plural lez 
and lous. Here we have the vowels a, e, y, o, 
used indifferently, which are certainly more violent 
changes than the conversion of i into e {Ugo into lego). 
The adjective lawful undergoes the following trans- 
formations in Norm. Fr. : — loiastes^ luist^ lyst^ leust^ 
laust^ licette, Hat, leux, leus, leu^ loyse, Zz/^e, list, Use, 
leise ; under another form loisible, lisihle, leisible, 
leissie, or loial, laiel, lealment. Each of the vowels 
is used indifferently in these words, and it will be 
perceived that the only fixed point in all these words 
is the letter L When we find a word undergoing such 
transmutations in one language, without any change 
of meaning, we shall be less surprised at the changes 
to which bases are subject when they assume new and 
technical significations. 

The connection between law and ligan, to lay, was 
pointed out by Home Tooke a hundred years ago, yet 
his explanation is not generally accepted, and the 
Latin licere, to permit, to allow, has been thought, by 
some, a more probable source of the word. It will be 
shown in the sequel that licere itself, and all such 
words, originate in the idea of laying, leaving ; and 
therefore the ultimate base of law through cither chan- 
nel would be the same. Still there can be no doubt 
that ligare, to bind, is a nearer relative to lea;, legisy 



118 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

than licere^ to allow ; and we, therefore, agree with 
Mr. Wedgwood in thinking that by law is meant 
^^ what is laid down." In corroboration that author 
says, '' so Lat. statutum^ statute, from statuere^ to lay 
down ; Ger. gesetz, law, from setzen, to set ; Gr. 
decriJLos, law, from tiOtjixl, to lay;" and we may 
add the Sanslo-it dharma, law, from dhri, to place 
or lay. 

The kinship between law and bondage is further 
illustrated by the Norm. Fr. ly, law, and lyance or 
ligesse, allegiance, the duty of the liche, lige, or liege, 
the subject, one under the law of a particular ruler, 
that is, one bound to conform to what is laid down for 
his guidance ; a meaning which receives further eluci- 
dation from the term liege-man, a feudal tenant who 
owes absolute fidelity, one bound to unquestioning ser- 
vitude, in fact, a hond-man. The word lige or liguie 
is the ISform. Fr. for a bond; Zier^ = prisoners, lyer= 
to bind, liaz or /?/a2^ = bundles, and /oie/z^ = bonds, 
presenting forms closely analogous to those which 
represent the fetters of the law.^ In the same lan- 
guage those who bound themselves for a term, or who 
were hired, were called Mans or loueez, and the act 
of hiring lowance^ lowange or lovage (Fr. louer^ to 
let a house), while that which was paid for the service 
was known as lower ^ luer, lowir, loos, or alegance, 
that is, an al-/oz/7-ance, obviously allied to louer, al- 



^ In modern French re-lier means ' to bind' (a book) ; and re-lieur 
is a binder. 



THE WOED " LAW." 119 

louer^ Fr., to assign; alogar, Pro v.; allogare, Ital., 
to settle; locare allocare, Lat., to place, i.e., lay 
down {locare argentum, Lat., to lend money on a 
rental). 

To Lay a thing down is really to place it in contact 
with something else, as is proved to demonstration by 
the Sanskrit form of the same word. La^, in Sans- 
krit, means both to lie and to alli/ ; and in its deriva- 
tive Lagnd, in Hindi, it comprises every kind of appli- 
cation both mental and physical. The Latin word 
Ligare, to attach, to bind, gives the nearest rendering 
of the word law, lea;, the Lig-ament, the agreement or 
League binding well-ordered societies of men, without 
which there can be no alhiance^ no Lock-ing together 
of numerous interests into a compact bLock or Log, 
The Law is a Link which, like the Lainers or Lanyards 
of a ship, LaceSj Lashes, or Latches together the ele- 
ments of a common polity, in the same way that a 
Learn or Leash binds dogs, a LmcA-pin binds the axle 
of a cart, and a Langot or Latchet binds the two sides 
of a shoe.* 

The above instances show some of the changes which 
the base 'I' undergoes while retaining its older sense 
of attachment. It will, we think, be acknowledged 
that the passage of ligan into law is trifling in com- 
parison. The original identity of the words above 
given is shown more clearly in their older forms : thus, 

^ Cf. the Persian L««y«r, a rope for steadying a tent; and the 
Sanskrit i^ahhasa, a rope for tying horses, in French lont/e. 



120 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

to latch is in A. S. leccan^ gelceccan, to lock is beluc- 
can, Loc is a shut-in place^ the Icel. Loka; and a leash 
finds its representatives in the Norm. Fr. Lease, a leash, 
Laces, snares, and the Old Tr. Lacs, the Prov. Lac, 
latz, laz ; the Spanish Lazo ; Fr. Lace^, a string for 
stays ; Bavarian geLdss, the Lat. Laqueus (snare) ; and 
the modern Dutch Laschen or Lassen, the Danish Laslce, 
the Bavarian gcLassen, to join things together, — show 
how commonly the guttural passes into a sibilant (see 
p. 108). 

There are, however, very many other words in 
which the same base 'I' enters to impart a ligamentous 
sense ; such as Leetch-lines on board ship. Lime 
(another form of learn, the coupling of dogs), Loam, 
the adhesive kind of earth, and Lime (leim, G. ; lij'm, 
Du. ; Urn, Icel.; limus,'Ln,t.', lym^ Nor. F. ; heliman, 
A. S. ; leimen, G.), a sticky substance, the ag-glu- 
tinative property of which is its distinctive feature. 
So also the Sanskrit words Laguda, a club ; Laddu, 
an ag-^/o-merated sweetmeat ; Lakshd (lacca, Lat. ; 
lacca, Ital. ; laca, Sp. and Port. ; lack, Dan. ; lah, 
Dutch ; lack, Swedish ; laka, Pol. and Euss.), 
*^ gum-lac;" Leshtu, Loshtu, Loshtra, Loshta, ^^ a clod 
of earth." 

From lime we naturally pass to sLime, the s of 
which is adventitious, and changes to a guttural in 
cLeam {clceman, A. S.), '^to glue or fasten," and so 
passes into cLew {clywe, A. S. ; knauL, G.), the Teu- 
tonic form of gLue, glii, Fr., ^^ birdlime ;" gLus, gLu- 
linum, colLer, Lat. ; gLud, Welsh ; yAoios, Gr. ; 



121 

"nasty, clammy;" the Scotch gzair, glar, glaur, 
"slime, saliver ;" and the French gi^aire^ "slimy soil," 
or "the white of an Qgg^ The obsolete word 
gLaimous is a bond of union with CLammy^ sticky^ 
adhesive, and a word which at once puts us into com- 
munication withcLam, " to glue or daub ;" A. S. cLam, 
a bandage, clasp ; kLamm^ G., viscous ; ki^am or 
khampy Du., sticky. The last Dutch word shows the 
form the base assumed on taking a new sense ; for 
ki^amme or kLa7npe is also the Dutch for a hook, 
cB.amp, or chamj}, used for the purpose of holding 
things together, — the German khamme, kRampf, Fr. 
cuampe. 

The following batch of words from Hindi will show 
how adhesiveness is expressed in that language : — 
Lagcm, holding fast ; Lamdor, leash for catching 
game, Lokndj to catch; jjacJichhd, a bundle, ball; 
Led J tangled hair ; Luj-Luja, clammy, viscous ; Lacli- 
jjCtchdnd^ to be clammy ; La^, tenacity, viscosity ; 
jjusaknd^ to become viscid; Lasnd, to embrace, 
adhere ; Lasord, name of a glutinous fruit ; ludsd, 
anything clammy ; Lahjdj viscosity, Lakh or Lah, 
gum-lac ; Ldgu, adhering to, desirous of ; Lank, bird- 
lime ; LahLahd, clammy, glutinous ; Lipatnd, to cling, 
adhere : Lapti or Lapst, glutinous food. In all these 
words (and many more might be added) the constant 
phenomenon is the presence of the letter I. 

The form cuamp above mentioned has congeners in 
CRump'led, to be pressed together, to have the cw.imp 



122 LINGUISTIC OEIGINES. 

{crampe, Fr.), to be cnushed^ made cLose, stuffed, 
c'Ra7n-med(A.S. cramman) ; and when meaning simply 
" bent together " the nasal is dropped, as in the form 
CRuh-ach^ Gaelic, a cmp-ple^ one cnab-bed, or CRooked. 
That CRab (a cRaw-ling cReep-er) has the sense of 
adhesion is shown by the tool of that name used for 
clamping boards together, and also as applied to the 
animal, crabba^ A. S. ; carabus^ Lat. ; hrabbe^ Dan. ; 
hrab or krank^ Breton ; krebs^ G. ; krabbi^ Icel. ; 
cancro^ gRanchio^ Ital. ] kaRkata^ Sans. ; AcaP/ct^o?, 
Gr. ; cancer^ Lat., in which I (or r) is entirely sup- 
pressed; but as it appears in the Italian word, we 
have an instance to prove that modern European lan- 
guages are not derived from the classical tongues, but 
had an independent growth. 

Closely allied to the crab is the cRayfish or cRaw- 
jisli^ the kRebiz of 0. H. G. ; kRevisse or kRevitse, Du. ; 
ecRBvisse, Fr. ; escaRbot^ a beetle (cRap-aud^ a cRaw- 
ling toad) escaRabot, Langue d'Oc ; o-KaPd^eiov = 
o-Kapd/3o<5, Gr. ; scaRa-bceus, Lat. ; the creature with 
cLaws, or cLeyes (Sax. and G. klave)^ by which it can 
ci/utch, cjjip, cLasp, or cLeave to anything. The A. S. 
cLeowan, to close, is clearly allied to such other forms 
as cLeofan, A. S. ; kheben^ Germ.; ki^eeven^ kiAjven^ 
Du. ; kLcebe, Dan., all of which mean " to cleave," 
^* to adhere ;" and the Somersetshire c\ytty^ sticky, is 
near akin to Cheat^ a piece of wood on which ropes are 
fastened, approaching the word CLaut^ which Chaucer 
uses as synonymous with cijaw. It is, furthermore, 
the claw with which we c\.vng to anything, enabling 



THE WORD " LAW." 123 

US to GUmh or Chamber^ i. e. to sc^amb-le up, Fr. 
gmmp-er^ g^iffe^ akin to g^ip^ to g^asp ; Gr. yPnrU 
1,0) yPiwos^ Fr. ag^affe^ grippe; cLeik or cLek, 
Scotch, to seize ; JcLupe^ Swiss, claws ; kLcenga^ 
Swedish, to climb. 

Very similar to the form clet/e^ a claw, that by 
which we adhere, is the word clqt/ (Gr. apyiAko^^ 
Lat. argihla) the adhesive kind of earth, Fr. argihe^ 
Ital. argihla^ Luto^ Span, arcihla^ Russ. and Pol. 
ghiua, A. S. cLceg, Du. khei/^ Dan. kLceg or kheg^ 
clammy, khag^ mud. The adventitious character of 
the initial of clai/ is well shown by the German Juetten^ 
LeAm, the Italian uato^ the Eussian i,etio^ the Walla- 
chian Le^iw, the Danish and Saxon J.eer^ and the 
Swedish Lem, all of which are deprived of the 
guttural. In Sanskrit clay is termed giLindhrij 
basically identical with gihi-pada, gjji-pada^ giji-padin^ 
cLw^-footed ; analogous to ghesha^ union ; gi^eshman 
or gj.eshmaka, mucus ; and f iia, a ^ock ^ or hiiOck of 
matter. The final g of the A. S. clceg is softened in 
the word clings and yet further changed in chench or 
ciAnch^ though it is again hardened upon dropping 
the non-basic initial, as in lAnk (cf. the Hindi words 
L«^, iiagbhag^ and Lo?^, meaning ^' near to," ^' close 
to"). The link (hanga, Sans.) which unites two 
objects is nearly related to cLink-er^ matter linked or 
clenched together; khinkeii^ Du., fasten or clench a 
nail ; kLanken^ Bav., to knot together ; khynge^ Dan., 

* Rock — logy by change of r to /. 



124 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

a knot or cluster. The word cluster is itself expressive 
of aggregation or joining together of many units, 
cLuj/ster^ A.S,; JcLister ^ TcLusfer^ Dn, ; kLissen, Du,^ 
to close, to be close, cLi/san, A. S. ; schUessen, Germ. ; 
akin to cLoister, what is enclosed, khoster, Germ. ; 
cLoitre, cLoture, Fr. ; KAeCco, KAiOpov, Gr. ; ciuaustrum^ 
cLaudo, Lat. 

What is close is cnush~ed or c^owd-ed together, and 
c^owd {em's, A. S.), which was at. one time written 
cURd or cnud, and lost its dental in cnew, is traceable 
in such words as cuddle, to c^uddle, cower, ^ crouch, 
as is shown by the Dutch k^uyd-en or kuuyen, to 
hustle together ; similar to the Polish gnuda or 
gnud'ka, a lump or cLod ; Fr. cuoftes ; Eng. cRottles, 
cRuttles, or cnums. Closely akin to crowd is the word 
CLoud (cLote, Du., ax^vs, Gr., cohigo, Lat.) which has 
long been known as a companion form to ci.ot or cjjod, 
which may be strikingly illustrated by the expression 
clouted or clotted cream. To the word clod {clud, A.S.) 
must be allied clo^, the changes of the final letter 
being illustrated by the Dan. kjuods, the Swed. kiuOts, 
the Du. kiuOt and the Germ, ki^oss. Clog, by loss of 
its adventitious initial, becomes 'Log, expressive of an 
aggregated mass, a block. Log is found in the Hindi 
LCLggi, a staff or club, to which the following words 
are allied : Lakut or Lakar, a club or cudgel ; iLakrd, 
a lump of wood ; Lothrd, a lump of flesh ; Lahedd, a 
club ; and Lopri, a lump of anything moist. 

* The dot in this word marks the absence of the base. 



THE WORD " LAW." 125 

The word clod takes a nasal in the Dutch form 
Monte, and Danish klunt^ so bringing about a not 
uncommon result, that is, the change of the letter 
following the nasal into a labial. Hence arises 
ki.ompe, Du. ; ki^umpen^ G. ; kiMmbu^ Icel. ; kjAimp, 
Dan. ; cuimp, Eng. The last word is, as Mr. Wedg- 
wood says, ^^ related to club as stump is to stub, bump 
to bob, hump to hoby A cuub is clearly a log or 
j.ump^ an aggregation of matter, as the Swedish ki^abb^ 
a log; cjjava^ Lat., a bundle of sticks; the Eussian 
ki.ub\ a ball ; the Polish ki.qb^ b. ball ; the Welsh 
cLo^, a boss or knob ; the Dutch kLuppel^ a cudgel, 
the German IcLoben^ koihe ; the Latin giucba, a clod ; 
and the English cLz/S-footed, abundantly attest. 

The elision of a labial following a nasal is, also, a 
common occurrence, as was shown above by the change 
of clamp into clammy^ clam^ and cram) and so in 
the form of the base we are now discussing we find 
that the word clump or cloud passed not unnaturally 
into cLown, to express one who is agglomerated in 
intellect, and who is also called a clod or clot-pole, a 
lumpish, stupid boor, a i,og-gerhead (Lat. coLomiSy 
stupid) ; — just as we find in German the word kLotz, 
meaning a log, and kzotzig, for that which is boorish 
or rustic. When the word clown loses its initial, it 
produces the form Loon (hawand, Pers., foolish) or 
Louty applied to any Lub-ber {i>igUj Sans., a fool), in 
which last the labial reappears, bringing us back to 
liimp, anastomosing with clump^ clamp, and all that 
have preceded. 



126 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

While mentioning clump^ we must not forget cjjumsy, 
which Mr. Wedgwood prefers to derive from comelyd^ 
cumhled, clommed^ clomsid, ^^ stiffened with cold," 
without perceiving that all such vocables arise from 
the onomatop expressive of closing together, or aggre- 
gating, whether it be by application, agglutination, or 
by meteoric or other causes. The very word coLd 
(ceohd, A. S. ; gehidus, Lat. ; kuhiu. Germ. ; cMlI, 
Eng. ; cei.e,cyL, A. S.), that which con-geals or gel- 
atinates, is a pertinent instance of the use of the base 'I' 
in a ligamentous sense. 

From clotid, by mere change in pronunciation, 
we educe gLout^ gLowf, and so gLum, gj^oomy {glo- 
mung^ A. S.), words expressive of a cloudy or frowning 
countenance, the looking g^im^ — to gj^ombe (Chau- 
cer) ; gjjupna, ITorse ; gLomme^ Dan. ; gLoeren^ g^'^y- 
eren, Dut. 

Among the forms above given as near of kin to clog^ 
we mentioned the word block; but this is by no 
means the only vocable in which a labial occurs as 
initial to our base. The continental equivalents of 
this word lead us into regions as yet untrod ; the 
Swed. hi.acTc^ Dut. hiMcken^ Ital. h ' uzzelli, Germ. 
bhock or IcLosSj Fr. bLoc or bi^of; Prov. bijoca or bocLa, 
the boss of a shield, that which is burnt; Dut. pijukk, 
which in Somersetshire is also pronounced pLock ; 
leading to the Danish pjjci^ Eng. pi^ot, and ultimately 
to biMt; which last is, in German, expressed by the 
three words, bLosse, kLeck, and/heck, the last of which 
conducts us to a fhake or knot of snow, and a fhock 



THE WORD " LAW. 127 

of wool {flocc^ A. S. ; flocke, Germ. ; floc^ flocon, Fr. ; 
pj^ecta, Lat.), a fLock of sheep, and a fi^eece or bunch 
of wool {fujse^ A. S. ; VLiess, woi,le, Germ. ; vLies or 
woIj, Dut. ; t^Lfl?, Dan.; ulI, Swed. ; i.aine, Fr. ; LaTza, 
Ital. ; La, Sp. ; L«a, for Jjagna, Port.; Aavco^ Doric), 
and at last we arrive at fLax {fi^eax, A. S. ; vi^as^ 
VJ^asch, Dut.; vfLakno, Bohem. ; lAnum^ Lat.; Lm, 
Fr.), which the Kussian words wi^as^ woJuOs\ hair, 
enable us to recognize as a form of the word wool. 
The demonstration of this alliance is famished by the 
following paragraph, simply copied from the first 
edition of Mr. Wedgwood's ^^ Dictionary of English 
Etymology " : — 

'^WooL. Goth, widla, ON. nil, Fris. wille, Fin. willa, 
Russ. v:olna, "W. gwlaUy Gael, olana, wool. Lith. wilnaj 
Let. willa, vnlna, Illyr. vuna, Lat. villus, a lock ; velliis, a 
fleece ; Gr. ou\o^, woolly ; Esthon. wil, wool ; willrme, wildnSj 
woollen, woolly."*^ 

These words are given by that gentleman without 
comment of any kind ; but they at once suggest how 
the w passed into v, and then into /, and finally 
coalescing with the letter /, transformed wool into 
Ji-eece ( ? the old Aryan genitive, wool-is, vl-is) and 
gave a name to that which has a /loss?/ appearance, 
i. e. flax. The Norman French lins^ laisnes, or leignes, 
wool ; laniiz. woollen ; linge, lenge^ or leignes, linen, 
are additional evidence. 

The kind of block with which we stop a hole is 
called a pLitg, a word which retains the k in the 
Finnish form puLkka^ and the Esthonian pui.k, as 
indeed is the case in the PI. Du. puckkj which means 



128 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

both a block and a plug ; while the words pjjUgge, 
PI. Du. ; pi^ugj Du. ; pi^igg, Swed. ; offer forms which 
balance the initial surd by a final sonant. The French 
en-cJuOT/er, to stop with a plug, to cLogy or ciuO^, gives 
a parallel form, in which the final melts into a vowel, 
the not uncommon end of a guttural. That the letter 
I in plug is radical may be shown by the word peg, 
which, however closely it approaches to plug in both 
form and sense, is nevertheless derived from a quite 
different base, as will be shown in the Dictionary. 

The word block, besides changing its initial to the 
spiritus asper in flock, fleece, &c., at times loses it 
altogether, so that we meet with the alternative forms 
flocke and Ibcke in German ; vlocke and locke in 
Dutch ; lockr in Icelandic ; locca in Anglo-Saxon, 
and lock (of hair) in English. The word lock is 
applied to an aggregation of hair just as log is to an 
aggregation of woody matter, and rock or block is to 
a mass of stone. In every case the idea is that of 
associated units forming a common bui^k. 

Having thus followed the base 'I' through so many 
changes arising out of its sense of attachment, aggluti- 
nation, and aggregation, we will return to the forms 
link, clench, cling, and follow the base through a 
different channel among a series of words which 
adhere in meaning more closely to the idea of simple 
alliance, the bringing, laying, or placing together. 
For the word cling so naturally suggests the form 
jjinger, that it would require more reasoning to prove 
they were not akin than to establish their relationship. 



THE WORD " LAW. 129 

Linger suggests Loiter^ Lounge^ uarch^ uark (huk-nd, 
Ilindi) and Langour^^ to remain attached to a parti- 
cular place or state {jLirka or jjurka, Norse, J^auern^ 
Germ., to lie hid), to be s^Low (sj.aw, Sax., slov, Du., 
Lent, Fr.) as a sLug or a sLuggard {i.e. slow-SiYd), 
to Lag behind, be Loth, and, with a nasal accent, to be 
Long. There does not, at first sight, seem much 
connexion between the ideas expressed by long and 
loitering, yet in their Hindi forms {vi-Lamh, procrasti- 
nation, de-Loy, and Lamha, long? tall) the identity of 
the two is rather strongly marked. Such is also the 
tendency of the Walloon Lon=slow, the Limousin 
Loung, Loz//z= tedious ; the Italian Lungi, French 
Lom=far, Old French esLonger^ eLoigner, to put at 
a distance ; and the Old Norse Langr, Goth. Laggs. 
Yery near of kin to langour is the French Languir, 
to Languish ; to linger in confinement ; and Long 
(Scotch lang) passes readily into Lank, (to be long or 
Lean,) by the mere sharpening of the final. He who 
lingers behind becomes Late, he may even be the Last 
to move, or he may not move at all, but continue or 
Last in the hypothetical condition an indefinite time. 
Lagna, ^^ attached," the past participle of the Sanskrit 
base lag, also means " loft," " remaining." To express 
continuance our Saxon ancestors would have employed 
the word Lestan, but the Germans would now say 
bLeiben {a/Lifnan, Goth.; iL2/k;a, Swed.), which seems 



^ Cf. the Sanskrit 'Langula, Lanjaf jjaLama, ijdngula, Lilma, all 
of which mean *' tail," or vertebral lengthening. 

K 



130 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

to be as near to jjehen (Goth., Liban, IS'or. Fr., Lib, 
jjibe, Eng. to Live) as give is to the Gothic giban, 
Sanskrit grabh, "to take." To live is, in fact, to 
remain, to continue^ to last, and the letter / has in 
this word the same sense of abstract attachment to 
existence as it has of concrete attachment in the words 
Line and Ligament, 

A Lane is an opening aLong a line {Aoy^^, a 
lance) and so is a gLen {glyn^ Nor. Fr.), showing 
how small is the effect of these fickle initials upon the 
sense. A Lawn is very similar to a lane, it is a Level, 
and is one form of Land, just as clown is a form of 
clod, or tun of tub. A level or lawn is a place laid 
out flat, as is proved by the way in which we always 
speak of producing one ; for we build a house, but lay 
out a lawn. The same may be said of Lake {lac, Fr., 
laciis, Lat., Xolkkos Gr.,) which is a smooth sheet of 
water. But this word may be more nearly allied to 
the Saxon loc, an inclosed space (Scotch loch), 
though, as we have formerly shown that lock and close 
both originate from the idea of binding or attaching in- 
herent in all forms of * Z", to ally, this circumstance wdll 
have no effect on the propriety of the insertion of lake in 
the present series. Perhaps a Lath exhibits the 
singular metamorphoses of this base in an equally 
striking manner ; for a lath is a piece of wood that 
has been dispLayed, spLayed, or Laid open. A Lattice 
{lattiz. Nor. Fr.) is a window formed of laths. 

The idea of laying as associated with the letter / is 
clearly seen when we speak of Loading a cart, or the 



THE WORD '' LAW." 131 

bill of Lading (A. S. hldd^ Hindi Laddnd, to load, 
Lad or Ladd-o, a load) ; but we forget this radical 
meaning when we use the noun and speak of a Load, 
or a Last of corn ; so also when we speak of our 
Lodging, that is, our Lair^ where we lay, last, or 
abide. When we Lodge anything under certain cir- 
cumstance it is called sl pLedge (plegg, Nor. Fr.), the 
thing is pLaced or laid down to abide a certain con- 
tingency ; and when we pledge or pLight our words, 
we bind or attach ourselves to something in a way 
analogous to that in which a sailor spLices the two 
ends of a rope, or an artilleryman Lashes a gun to the 
lifting gear. 

The letter I in the word pLaint {plaindre, Fr.) 
points to a similar origin. It is a complaint, or pLea 
in legal phraseology, an al-Leg-ation, that which is 
lodged. In Norman French a plea was called pleintie^ 
plaint, pleit, plet, plait, plaid, and lai or laie, leading 
directly to the forms alaier. Her, Iyer, to allege, the 
last identical with Iyer, to bind ; and the word aliaunce 
or alienee was used indifferently to express either 
alliances or allegations. 

This word causes us to notice the radical difference 
between the French plaindi^e and pleurer. The latter 
is the equivalent of the Latin plorare, to weep, the 
English y7o2/;, Yx. fleuve,^ river. Sans, plu, &c. This 
last sentence is enough to show that we use discri- 
mination in the alliance of vocables. 

In all these numerous instances we find a ligamentous 
sense attaching to the words in which the letter /, or its 

K 2 



182 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

correlative r, is a constant accompaniment, and it would 
require the faith of a Buddhist to suppose that all 
occurred by chance. An exact study of the physical 
phenomena of the universe is establishing with accumu- 
lating force the conviction that chance has no place in 
the realm of matter ; and we may rest assured that the 
same is true of the phenomena of language. A scientific 
study of language will tend more and more towards a 
demonstration that language is the out-come of definite 
laws, which await only the patient and comprehensive 
analysis of existent facts to reveal themselves to the 
diligent student. But our present duty is to argue 
not to perorate, and we, therefore, proceed to cite 
other examples, such as pjjait, to intertwine or lay 
together, to bB.aid (deadening the sound of the con- 
sonants), to bijend or associate together, to Jbi^d, to 
pj^eat, to pu/ or cause to lie in a particular direction, 
with a pair of pi,iers {plier^ Fr.). The word pit/ has 
a secondary sense, for we speak of those who pli/ an 
occupation [Ger. pflegen, Swed. plaga^ Dam. pleger). 
This must mean, apply themselves to it, expressed in 
German by the word obliegen, which can be at times 
divided so as to show that the latter part of the word 
really means to tie ; thus, es liegt mir oh, " I am 
obliged to it," " it is my duty." 

That which hangs or lies about is properly said 
to be Jjoose, to hang in i^oops (Sans, lab or lamb, to 
hang down, dangle ; Lat. labi, delabi) to be i.ithe, 
supple, or i.i7np ; and lAther is an old word for 
\.azy^ idhe (JedeL, Du., loose, Ger. lassig, Gal. lesg, 



THE WORD " LAW." 133 

Fr. lasse^ languissanf), one who is di-La-tory, a luozel^ 
Juoll-ard, who Juolls about, who Leans (laners, Nor. 
Fr., idle, sluggish) on others for support, in short, a 
sLoven {.slaw, A. S., slove, Dan.), si,atte7m^ s^sLict, one 
whose garments are sLack {sLcctha, Sans., loose, i,atd, 
a creeping plant) or sLouchy, who is addicted to 
sJuUmher or sLeep {shimerian, A. S. ; slummer^ Dan. ; 
sommeil, Fr. ; sonno^ Ital. ; sueno, Span. ; sond^ 
Hindi ; swap. Sans.) ; i. e., to lay down and rest. So 
in Hindi, the connexion between these various ideas 
is manifest in such words as Litdnd, to lay, cause to 
lie ; Lotthar, slack ; lAthdrnd, to draggle ; Lcdaknd^ 
to dangle ; Latdrna, to be fatigued. Loose {leosan, 
A. S. ; losen, Germ. ; loser, Du. ; losa, Swed. ; kvo), 
Gr.; Idche, Fr.; laus, Goth.; las, Dan.), lax, laxity, 
Lat. laxus, laxare, to uTiloose, to re-lax, to re-lieve ; 
Ital. lasciare^ Fr. re-lacher, laisser, Prov. laissar, 
educed from a base that gave birth to lex, league, 
lien, Sec, afford an instance of diametrically opposite 
meanings being expressed by the same base. 

In connexion with the word sloven must be men- 
tioned sLobber and sLur (sLet, Da. ; schhostern, 
Germ.; sLog, Sax.; sLyk, Da.; siMsh or sLudge) 
to smear or daub over anything, and the Dutch word 
sLobbern, to bag, hang loose, or fhag ; the last word 
leading on to such words as faih, to sink down, to 
faj.1 {fallere, lapsus, Lat., bo fa^se ; o-cjjoiXXo), 
o-<^aX/xa, Qr.;/alllre, Ital ; fail lir, Fr.) ; and /ooL, 
one known for hia failings. For fear the lust ety- 
mology should ])e thouglit far-fetclied, we hasten to 



134 LINGUISTIC OlilGINES. 

add that in Sanskrit a precisely analogous change has 
certainly taken place : thus the base mri, to die, to 
sink down, a parallel form to mlai, to be weary or 
Jail, has passed into mlechh, to be obfuscated, murchhd, 
fainting, a swoon, and murkha, a fool. Before leaving 
Jail we notice ail-ment, a failing or ill-ness ; the word 
ill being akin to the Gothic uhils, Germ, ilbel, Eng. 
evil, fal-lihility^ which is, therefore, no worse than 
a failing or falling short of a prescribed standard. 
The vocable evil brings us into communication with 
the primitive base in an unlooked-for way ; for evii^ 
is merely the Teutonic form of vihe, the congeners of 
which are dejii^e, Jowl, Jiiath,^ guiLe, guiht The 
direct parent of vile is the Latin vilis, the Fr. vil, 
Ital. vigliacco, that which is base or low, closely akin 
to volHs, Lat., vaLle, Fr. vohley, vaLe, Eng., the 
depressed or lowAjmg ground between two moun- 
tains. Vile is not allied to villain. The latter word 
has a curious meaning when traced to its origin ; for 
the ancient villein, villanus, was the servant of the 
villa, which last is undoubtedly a form of villus or 
vellus, the skin of a sheep, akin to pellis^ the skin of 
any beast, velamen, a covering in general, and vallum, 
an enclosure, a wall, — the v passing into h in the word 
Z>^^^7-ding, — all of which meet in a point in the Sanskrit 
base vri, to surround, co-ver. Thus a villain is, 
etymologically, ^Hhe servant of a covering.'^ 

* Thus there is no connexion between these words and fy ! fo ! 
as suggested by Mr. Wedgwood. 
^ By change of v intoy, then into j?. 



THE WORD '^ LAW." 185 

We return to the vocables meaning " lay," " ally." 
To Sluing anything (Sans, shath^ be relaxed) is to 
cause it to hang loose (Dut. slingern, to dangle ; 
Germ, schlingeln, to loiter) ; to si^ai/ is to lay low, 
to cast down (Swed. sj.aga^ a sword, a slayer); and 
the sjjain are to a battle what the sj^ag is to a furnace, 
the dross, that which is i^eft behind (cf. Sans, lagna^ 
laid, left), by which last word the senses of con- 
tinuance and attachment become manifest. The verb 
to 'Leave {linquer, Nor. Fr., re-linquere, Lat.) fits into 
the series containing linger j late, and last, previously 
mentioned ; but we did not then instance the word 
Let (lait, Nor. Pr., laissar^ Prov.), to al-Low, permit, 
Leave remaining, with a secondary sense of hindering. 
Mr. Wedgwood so clearly shows the connexion between 
lei and loose that we cannot do better than quote his 
short argument, — 

" The idea of slackening lies at the root of both applications 
of the term. When we speak of letting one go, letting him 
do something, we conceive him as previously restrained by a 
band, the loosening or slackening of which will permit the 
execution of the act in question. Thus Lat. laxare, to slacken, 
was used in later times in the sense of its modern derivatives, 
It. lasciare, Fr. laisseVy to let. Laxas desiccare, let it dry, 
modicum laxa stare, let it stand a little while. — Muratori. 
Diss. 24, p. 365. So from Bav. lass, loose, slack, slow, 
G. lasseuj to permit, to let. The analogue of Bav. lass 
is ON. latr, lazy, torpid, slow, the original meaning of which 
(as observed under Late) was doubtless slack, whence E. lef^ 
to slacken (some restraining agency), to permit.'^ 

There are hundreds of other words containing the 
base •/• which we must pass over with only a hasty 



136 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

allusion, such as luull (luller, Du., lullen, Ger., loisir^ 
Fr., loire^ Old Fr., and lolo for the nursery), i,ure 
{leurre^ Fr.), to allay apprehension; a b^aih or buace ; 
to pLaister, to i.utej different modes of applying sub- 
stances ; and such possible forms as i>ug, i,uggage, 
to pjjuck^ puhl, to J.ead, the LoacZ-stone, ^c, &c. ; for 
the idea of application or attachment soon assumes the 
meaning of seizing or arresting, as is shown by the 
legal phrase of " attaching a prisoner," the Ital. at- 
taccare^ to fasten. There are other words of like origin, 
such as TuOt, a share, portion, one appropriation which 
the recipient takes to himself, what indeed he-longs 
or appertains to him. Lot (hlot^ A. S., lott, Swed.^ lot^ 
Fr.) also means an aggregation or collection. The 
word Jjift {hlifian^ A. S., luften^ PL Du., lofte^ Dan., 
lever ^ en-lever^ Fr.) means " to lay hold of," '' appro- 
priate,"^ to g-Lean ; and that which is readily lift-able 
is -Light {laghu^ Sans., levis^ Lat., leger, Fr., licht^ Du.^ 
leicht^ Ger.) or slight, ^Lender. A Leech is a creature 
that lays hold and attaches itself with vigour, remind- 
ing one of a leash or thong. Mr. Wedgwood thinks 
"it is more likely that the radical idea is the applica- 
tion of medicinal herbs,'' which gave a name first to 
the physician, or healer, and then to the blood-sucking 
mollusc. He associates with it the words house/eeA:, 

* The f in lift is almost certainly the remains of up, upper, 
over, by the change of p into v and f. The meaning of li-f-t is to 
attach upwards, to lay-up, to make aloft, to heaud?, to haye, to 
appropriate. The last two words being based on the Sanskrit 
dhri or dha joined to the same word up, over. 



THE WORD '' LAW." 137 

leeJcs, &c., " whence in all probability the lock or lick, 
Ger. luege, which forms the termination of many of our 
names for plants ; hemlock^ charlock, garlicky Swiss 
wegleuge^ wild endive; kornleuge, galeopsis ladanum."* 
All this is very possible, and as the physician or leech 
was named from the poultices or applications he ad- 
ministered, his name and its derivatives are good 
examples of the sense of laying or applying imparted 
by the base which we consider to underlie all such 
words. 

Now it will not be uninteresting if we show that 
in the Semitic languages also the letter I is pursued 
by its ligamentous sense. To do this it will be 
enough to cite a few instances from Arabic, because 
the Semitic languages are radically so similar, that 
what is true of one is roughly true of all. The words 
we shall choose are such as, according to the laws of 
Arabic grammar, are radically distinct from each 
other; we are, however, aware that all Arabic tri- 
literal roots have been traced to biliteral stems. This 
fact does not detract from their value for our purpose ; 
because, in the mouth of an Arab, they are as much 
apart as block and plug and clump are to an ordinary 
Englishman. The following will, no doubt, suffice : — 
*aL.9, sticking ; ^ii^q, being attached (mentally); siLqd, 
lying flat ; sahf^ levelling ; Lai/kaf, clay ; Lazab^ ad- 

* Is not this termination allied to that in such words as wed- 
lock, k)iow-ledge T 



138 LmGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

hering, also clay ; ^ohfatat, mixing ; Lammj assembling ; 
LainLum, a crowd; Lawt, bedaubing, luteing; loz^ 
fibres, filaments; Lofq, sewing two things together ; 
L(ifm^ binding, fastening ; Lahq, adhering ; J-aqt, 
gathering together ; Lags, mixing; iLaqs, inclining 
towards, laying; Laqi/, meeting; LaM, mixture; Laka 
or Latab, adhering; Lats, collecting; Lath^ laying on 
the ground; Lat/^ drawing near; Latm, joining, glue- 
ing together; 'Lat^, cleaving to the ground; Ladb vis- 
cosity; Laz, lying with; 'Laghis^ a mixture; lo^, 
joining; i.azaj, viscous, being glued together; Lazaz^ 
fastening, joining; Juizaq and Juisaq, adjoining, close; 
Lazaky coalescence; Lazm, sticking close to anything; 
Lash or Lasab, adhering; Las/l joining together; La- 
sugh, cleaving to the bones ; Lasuq^ conjunction ; 'Latt^ 
fastening; and Lazy^ attached. 

Nearly all the foregoing words are simple bases 
giving rise to a whole vocabulary of derivatives ex- 
pressive of every species of adhering and placing 
together; and when we further remark that, while 
differing from each other in every other respect, they 
all agree in containing the letter /, it is impossible not 
to believe that the meaning common to all is imparted 
by some ultimate base represented by that letter. 

The resemblance between the Arabic words Lafik^ 
foolish, and Lafif^ a crowd (akin to layf^ filaments, and 
lifdfat^ any kind of bandages) shows that the Semites 
also recognized the likeness between a clown and a 
clod; and littikh^ a fool (cf. laty^ cleaving to the 
ground) tends in the same direction. The word laghiih^ 



THE WORD "law. 139 

foolish, from laghh^ to become weary, tired, exactly 
tallies with our derivation oi fool from fail^ and the 
Sans, murkha, a blockhead, from mlai^ to fade 
(p. 133). 

Eeturning to the Aryan family, the writers would 
remark that a careful examination of the Sanskrit lan- 
guage has convinced them that the number of bases 
might be materially reduced. The majority are of a 
secondary, tertiary, or yet more developed form, very 
few having any pretence to a primitive character. The 
real ultimate bases of that language will form the 
subject of a separate treatise ; here it will be enough 
to state that the germs of all the vocables that have 
illustrated this exposition of the congeners of the 
word law^ are to be found among the Sanskrit bases, 
and that the process of development is not altogether 
hidden from sight. Thus starting from the simple 
sound ^L, to lie down, we get ^l, to place, and the 
secondary bases L^ and La^, to place, to adhere. From 
U arises the series lz/2, jjwi, vli, biui, Lpi, i.ud, Las, all 
of which mean '' to join together," " to embrace." The 
change of Iwt into vli, bit, and Ipt, may be purely pho- 
netic ; but lud and las originate from the addition of 
a sibilant, meaning *Ho seek,^^ '* to z^zsh/' ^^souhaiter,^^ 
Fr. Las in its sense of ^^ clinging" gave rise to 
Losht, to collect ; and bit naturally developes into 
pLain, pB.ain, pain, pen, all meaning ^'to embrace." 
These last forms show that we must expect to meet 
vocables of ligamentous sense which have lost the dis- 



140 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

tinguishing liquid. The form las^ by accession of a 
strengthening initial, becomes siAsh,^ to clench, to 
embrace, and also sih or 5^L, siuon, sRon, to collect ; 
sLok, to compose verses. By s becoming k^ sil passes 
into ktL^ to attach ; kuL^ kshoL^ and khoL, to aggre- 
gate, or bring together. The base Ml, to attach, to 
lay with, introduces the forms kijam and gjuai^ to lay 
down, fade ; and ki.iv or khih^ to fail, or be weak. 
More directly from slish come the bases si^ath, sRath, 
and saRj to fade, fail, be weak ; and from Ipi, or one 
of its sisters mentioned above, we may not improbably 
deduce pui, and pu^ to aggregate ; and pii,, to be 
agglomerated in intellect. At times the letter p is 
supplanted by the letter m, which enables us to under- 
stand the origin of mil., to unite, embrace ; and its 
congeners miuai, muRc/ih, to lay about, to fade (phone- 
tically corrupted into muh, be faint) ; and mhaid^ mnaid, 
med, mLait, m^ait, met, different forms meaning 'Ho 
be foolish." Even the bases nil. and sthui., to be 
thick, gross, contain the letter I with a sense of aggre- 
gation ; but it would be venturesome to include these 
in the series. Omitting these two, we have here forty- 
six Sanskrit bases which may not unfairly be referred 
to the primitive sound il, the venerable parent of so 
many thousands of vocables preserved to us in this 
perhaps its simplest form. 

Eut beyond the large family of vocables containing 

* In Sanskrit s generally becomes sh after any vowel but a; the 
change in the vowel sound \vould, therefore, produce the change in 
the final letter of Slish. 



THE WORD " LAW." 141 

the base •/* in a sense of physical attachment, we find 
it applied, as indeed we might expect, to every kind 
of mental or sentimental attachment. Thus we are 
said to -Like that upon which we fix our minds — us ne 
us par dil JjAG-di/d^ ''he set his heart upon her," is 
the Urdu idiom for ^^ he loved her," or was attached 
to her. The word i.ove itself (leqf, A. S.) is a modi- 
fication of i.ief {lefe, leve, Chaucer, '' loving ; " liej) 
Du., dear, pleasing), seen also in i^eaman or 'Leman 
for Jjefman, one to whom we are attached sentimentally 
or carnally. Still more evident is this in Sanskrit, in 
which language from the base lag, attach, directly 
arises langa, union, a lover ; langiman, union ; lan- 
gaka, a lover ; and lagnaka, a surety, one bound for 
another. In Hindi also the chain is complete ; thus, 
lagnd, to adjoin ; lagdnd, to apply, place ; Idg, Idgut, 
or laggd, attachment ; and lagu-d, a paramour. 

Mr. Wedgwood very reasonably connects the voca- 
bles love J lust^ like, luck^ &c., with such words as lick^ 
yXaxTo-a ] and the application of the tongue may really 
be the idea underlying all the preceding derivatives. 
If so the origin of the connexion between sound and 
sense is patent, as the action of the tongue necessarily 
produces the sound which is represented by the lin- 
gual /. This liquid is clearly the onomatop on which 
thousands of words suggestive of the tongue and its 
operations are built ; and the great probal)ility that 
licking suggested the ideas of clamminess, adhesive- 
ness, smearing, and other methods of applying, and so 
passed on to allying, binding, and aggregating, is not 



142 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

by any means so improbable as many of the changes 
of sense which words are known to have undoubtedly 
undergone. 

The Sanskrit bases lih, to lick ; lag or lak, to taste ; 
likh^ to write; and ling, to paint, reveal some part of 
the process. In the form lag^ to taste, we have per- 
fect coalescence with lag, to adhere ; and the French 
le-s-cher or lecher^ to lick, may be juxtaposed to leash 
and lash ; while the Gothic laigon^ hi-laigon, to lick, 
shows a bond of union with laga, the law ; as does 
also the Saxon liccian, and the Gaelic ligh. That the 
letter I is the natural exponent of licking may be 
readily shown by the Aryan forms found in the Ger- 
man leckeUj Fr. lecher, Ital. leccare, Persian Usidan^ 
Armenian lezal, lick, luzw^ the tongue, Eussian lokat\ 
Lithuanian lakti, Latin lingere, Gr. Xeix^? Xlxc^vo^, 
Xetx'^v, and the Sans, lih, Eng. lick, Arabic, a Semi- 
tic language, abounds in similar instances, such as 
Lass, Lash, Lasd, Lasn, Laf, Laz, Laq, all meaning 
^'licking," and, indeed, nearly all the Arabic words 
formerly given as expressing " adhesion," have also 
this sense of 'kicking." The same language, further- 
more, contains such words as Lasm, tasting ; zaLq, 
Lughat, Lahja^ or Lisdn, the tongue ; and La ah, spittle, 
from the base la ah, to play, sport, be addicted to, 
showing the connexion between de- light and re- lis h. 
The complete onomatopic origin of the sense ascribed 
to the letter / is demonstrated by the Finnish^ word 

* *' Les langues finnoises contiennent beaucoup de mots ariens. " — 
Pictet, Les Aryas Primitifs, vol. ii. p. 846. 



143 

T.akkia^ to lick, and by the following words of Cochin- 
Chinese, taken from the Dictionary of that language 
by the missionary Josepho Maria Morrone. These 
words are the more remarkable as they present the 
letter I in all the senses which we have already as- 
cribed to it, and in those which will be given further 
on. Lai and /woz = the tongue ; lanh=tongViQ and 
voice; /a, to call; lap^ to be loquacious. Loi = io 
shine. Lao^ to hang loose ; la, fatigue, lassitude ; and 
lay and lat have the opposite meaning of ^^bond" or 
^' ligament," while lap means ^^ to tie," and hi is the 
name of little strings ; finally^ loi^ la, and luot are the 
words used to express ''law," in singular conformity 
with what we are endeavouring to show is the universal 
practice. These words show that Aryans, Semites, and 
Turanians universally recognize the letter /as the fit- 
ting exponent of lingual action.^ 

The Latin lingua certainly gave rise to linger e^ 
delingere, diligo, and loquor^ to speak, lingula, a 
chatter-box, loquax^ loquacious ; and from the base of 
Xet^w spring Xe^t?, \6yo<;^ a word, Xi^uKov, a dictionary, 
also \v(t), luXj luxuria^ luxury, and Xaw, to desire, 
analogous to XyJ/xa, Xrj/x/xa, the 0. H. G. liuban, Lat. 
lubet, Goth. Hubs (dear), Sans, lubh, Eng. love, that 
which is worthy of praise, Laus, Lat., lo5, 0. H. G., 
what makes us " lick our chaps," or lust after, lustus, 

* Though employing a different phonic symbol, the Chinese also 
recognize the connectedness of the ideas illustrated under the word 
law : thus, she^ the tongue ; she, to lick ; shin, the lip ; and she cho, 
to place, set down. 



144 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

Goth. ; lasJca^ Bohem. ; las, Sans. From the licking of 
the tongue, also, naturally arises luhricare^ and yXtcr- 
Xpo?, a smooth surface; Xeta, an instrument to polish 
stones ; whence Gr. KpvaaWo';, Lat. glacies (lubrica), 
Fr. glisser^ to glide or slide over ; also lino^ to spread, 
liniment^ what is spread, oleum^ oil {huile^ Fr.), oliva, 
iXeia, from its slimy ^ or saliva-Y\k.Q appearance. A 
single smear was called linea^ a streak, or line^ the 
Hindi lekhd or laMr^ Sans. /zA;A, to write, from lih, to 
smear ; whence col-limate, direct line, and col-limata- 
neus^ common boundaries, or limits. 

The application of the tongue to objects would be 
the most natural source of the idea of smearing, which 
is clearly shown in Sanskrit ; for in that language the 
base lih^ to lick, reappears in lip^ to smear, and from 
this latter proceed ling, to paint (obvipusly akin to 
lag^ to apply), and likh, to write. It is worthy of re- 
mark that the letter h at the end of lih is not radical,^ 
but the remains of a guttural affix, which is seen in 
the g of ling^ and the kh of likh. Linga is a deriva- 
tive, meaning ^' a mark," or sign of any kind ; and 
hence applied to the phallus as the mark par excel- 
lence ; and from likh we get lekha^ a line, or writing ; 
while lih is repeated to produce leliha^ a serpent^ from 
its resemblance to a smear or streak, and laid, '' spittle." 
The |> of lip^ to smear, is also significative ; for it re- 
minds us of the labia, Lat. ; levres^ Fr. ; lips, Eng. ; 



*Prof. Th. Benfey is of opinion that h is never radical in Sans- 
krit. 



THE WORD "LAW.'^ 145 

which assisted in the primitive lepana^ Sans., smear- 
ing ; whence arose lepaka^ Sans., a bricklayer or plas- 
terer, and lepa^ Sans., a spot or stain. That lip com- 
bines two onomatops •/• and •/)•, which respectively 
signify ^ tongue " and "lips," may be inferred from 
the simpler base li or rt^ to be viscous, or moist, in 
which the tongue only is concerned, and therefore the 
p is wanting. The base lap^ to speak, gives another 
instance in which the action of tongue and lips are 
expressed by one vocable. Lap gives, as a derivative, 
lapana^ the '* mouth;" and also appears under the 
forms rap and riph^ to speak, showing how constantly 
I tends towards r. Lap^ furthermore, is the parent of 
luhh^ to covet, to lick the chaps (Lat. luhet) ; and labh^ 
to enjoy, get, obtain. The intimate relationship of 
these bases is shown by the Sanskrit derivatives lam- 
pata, covetous, a libertine, limpata, a lecher, and lipsd, 
a wish. In the sense of "wishing" we find the 
onomatop * I • assuming such forms as lal, lash, luhh, 
luh, and also rahh, the last base affording the best 
assurance that labh, though generally used to express 
" obtain,'' proceeded from a base signifying " desire to 
obtain," to hanker after, the appropriate gesture indica- 
tive of coveting being the licking of the tongue round 
the mouth. In direct descent from lih, to lick, and 
lihh^ to write, we get laksh, to make marks of any 
kind, to distinguish one thing from another, a base 
which, by phonetic corruption, passed into lackh and 
Idnchh, both of which retain the same meaning. The 
form muaksh or mKiksh, to anoint, brings us back to 

L 



146 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

the original sense of tlie word ; m being a prefix, and 
r, as usual, representing /. By transference of the 
qualities of the object to the subject, a very common 
manifestation of the Law of Metaphor, laksh^ to mark, 
passed into laksh, to see, perceiye, just as the English 
word mark (S. mraksh, above) is used in both senses 
in the phrases ''mark those goods" and ''mark what I 
say." With the help of a prefix, laksh becomes vleksh 
or, by corruption, veksh, and may ultimately have 
dwindled into iksh, all of which mean " see," " per- 
ceive." However this may be, laksh, to see, is certainly 
allied to lok or loch^ to perceive, which only differs 
by rejecting the sibilant ; — and to linkh, to perceive,* 
which actually brings us back to the form likh^ to write, 
or make marks, whence the series started. 

Now when the tongue is applied to an object, not 
only is there engendered an idea of smearing, but a 
particular kind of smearing is always apparent. The 
tongue invariably leaves behind it a slimy or shiny 
mark, which soon evaporates, it is true, but while it 
continues gjjazes or gi^osses the surface completely ; and 
the similarity between gloss and ykoacra is not a little 
remarkable. But we have no occasion to compare 
ancient and modern languages together, for we have 
positive identity in the Sanskrit bases lok and lochj 
which mean, not only "see," "remark," but also 
"shine." The idea of "shining" is, of course, de- 
duced directly from the mark of licking, and not 

^Benfey's Sanskrit Dictionary, 1866. 



THE WORD " LAW." 147 

through ^^ seeing," so that the bases are parallel and 
not derivative. The bases likh and laksh, to mark, 
underlie those expressive of ^^ shining," as might be 
inferred from the base las^ to shine, which is clearly a 
corruption of such a form as laksh. The guttural is 
preserved in the word langh, to shine, which is also 
spelled rangh; and is modified to a palatal in lanj or 
laj, to shine, which last, through the base ranj^ ^'to 
paint," or " smear," again places us en rapport with 
the primal idea from whence all these words arose. 
The identity of lanj, shine, and ranj, paint, is strik- 
ingly illustrated by the words ruh, Gael., ruhha^ Old 
Norse, ruohhet^ Lappish, rhwbio, Welsh, all of which 
mean to smear, stroke, or, as we say, to rub, which 
last appears in Latin as lub-rico, to render -polished or 
shiny. The identity of origin of the English rub 
(Pers. ruf-tari) and the Lat. lubrico, to po4ish^ lub-elj 
to le-lish, to lick the tongue, and lucere, luxi, light, 
shine, cannot be doubted. 

Keturning again to our Sanskrit bases we find that 
laksh, lok, exist under the form lut^ which changes its 
initial in rut^ and regains the palatal form of its final 
in ruch^ to shine. Ruch is an important base ; but 
before tracing its derivatives, it is as well to give its 
immediate congeners. These are runs, rej or bhrej\ 
raj or bhrdj, which reassume the final sibilant in the 
forms bhrds or bhrds, and regain the / in bhlds or 
bhlds, but modify it in bhrins, and lose it entirely in 
bhds, bhas, and bhd. Every one of these bases means 
^^ shine," and some elucidation is certainly needed to 

l2 



148 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

show how hhd could be eliminated from •/'. The order 
in which the bases are given is designed to illustrate, in 
some way, the changes ; none of which, taken singly, 
appear very violent. The greatest difficulty is to 
explain the prefix 5A, which, for want of a better 
reason, may be supposed to be the remnants of the 
preposition ahhi^ " on," " over " (Arabic fi)^ a very 
common prefix in Sanskrit, though at the early stage 
of language at which these bases were formed, the 
hh might with equal propriety be deduced from v% 
^' about," or even pra^ ''forth,'' ''per." If this con- 
jecture be correct ahhi -\-rdj would give hhrdj^ and 
ahhi-^lds would give bhlds or hhrds^ &c. Whether 
this be so or not, it is clear that no great emphasis can 
be laid on the unchanging character of the initials of 
bases. (Cf. pidhdna for apidhdna^ P- 20, &c., &c.) 

Let us now turn to Semitic languages, and see 
whether similar words were evolved from this ono- 
matop in that family. In Arabic we have seen that 
the vocable for "tongue" is lisdn^ and this is obviously 
based on the simpler form lass^ '' licking." When the 
medial vowel is changed it becomes laws^ "tasting;" 
the w melting into u produces lus^ " meat," " food," 
that which is tasted. The addition of a final m makes 
lasam or lisdm, meaning " tasting ;" the medial s 
passing into 'am leaves la?n =. "saliva;" and when 
the final m is replaced hj a d we get lasd, " sucking," 
"licking." The connection of all these words with 
the action of the tongue is too obvious to require 
comment. Many more Arabic words could easily be 



THE WORD "LAW." 149 

adduced, but the following will suffice for our present 
purpose, which is to show that the licking of the 
tongue gave a name to the tongue itself, and to its 
actions, and metaphorically to other kinds of smearing, 
marking, and applying. The words we shall adduce 
are : laz or /a f , licking ; la ah or ludb^ viscosity, 
sliminess ; law^ lecherous, lusting ; ludq or lamz^ 
licking the lips ; lamq, writing, smearing out writing, 
obliterating; lawt^ bedaubing. Here we have pre- 
cisely the same phenomenon that was presented in 
Sanskrit, that words expressing ^'licking " develop in 
two channels, one conveying an idea of " lusting after," 
the other of " smearing," or " writing." Still more 
strikingly is this parallel shown in lafz^ " a word," 
etymologically identical with the Sanskrit lap, '' to 
speak," which we have before shown produced the 
derivative lapana^ " the mouth ;" and we may here 
add lapita^ '^ the voice," and vildpa, " lamentation." 

In Arabic, as in Sanskrit, the letter I at times passes 
into r, and so from lasm^ " tasting," " licking," we get 
rasm^ "writing," ^^ drawing," and rashm, expressive 
of any kind of "marking" (S. laksh, mraksh). So 
also la(y " licking," reappears as raf^ to express 
" rheum " or anything similar ; and such forms as 
la^dbf "sliminess," seem closely akin to razab, ^* suck- 
ing," and ruzdb, "spittle." These changes prepare 
us for forms very similar to laf-z, "a word," such as 
lajlqfatj a repeated base to express rapid action of the 
mouth, '^eating voraciously " (Johnson's Diet.); and 
la/a/, imperfect action of the mouth, '^ stannnering ;" 



150 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

and these suggest the parallel form raff, which means 
^^ sucking i saliva J and shining ^''^ whence comes the 
derivatiye rafif^ '* shining," '^ glittering.'^ R^fif^ '^^ff-t 
and Iqfqfhving to mind laff, Iqfm, &c., formerly given 
(p. 138), with a sense of " allying, joining," lending 
probability to the suggestion that the application of 
the tongue suggested vocables indicative of other 
methods of applying one thing to another. In these 
instances from the Arabic we have, again, something 
like direct evidence that the action of the tongue gave 
birth to words expressive of sliminess, gloss, sheen, 
shine, brilliance, splendour, glare. The simplest pro- 
cess of natural development, would thus lead on from 
laws, " licking," to lawd-ik, " light and splendour." 

Eeturning to the Aryan family of languages, we 
will trace the onomatop •/• through a similar course 
in Persian, and then passing into Greek, will show its 
existence in many of the commonest words of the ver- 
naculars of Europe. 

There are two verbs in Persian for licking, lishtan 
and listdan, both being near akin to the Sans, likh, 
DejDrived of grammatical termination, we get at the 
nominal base lis, '^ licking," which passes into ler, 
" slaver," and into liz, to express anything soft and 
slippery. From Uz we pass to lush and loshan, the 
name of slimy mud at the bottom of ponds, slush, and 
lajam, a general name for '^ slime." The sound of ; 
in this last word approaches that of sh in lush, or is 
like the French j in jamais. That the vocable for 
"licking" passed on to express that which was 



THE WORD " LAW." 151 

"luscious" we may infer from the word lot^ ^' a 
de-/z-cious morsel;'^ but its slimy, shiny sense seems 
to have found expression through the r form of the 
base (of. lEiaughan^ oil, butter). Thus it is indu- 
bitable that in rakhsMdan^ " to shine," rakhshd^ 
" shining," and rakhsh^ " lightning," we meet the 
Sanskrit word laksh^ '•' to mark, make manifest, see," 
in a slightly disguised form. Other Persian words 
which help us here are rusht, '' bright," " light," 
rosh, " light," " splendour," and roz or roj\ " the 
day." The connection between rusht, rosh, and roz, 
is very apparent. 

Here also we have reasonable proof that the vocable 
for licking, lapping, came from the noise made by the 
tongue, and that, by the action of the Law of Metaphor, 
it ultimately came to express what had been licked, 
and so appeared slimy, shiny, or bright. It requires 
no stretch of imagination to see in the Persian word 
rosh, ^^ bright," the Sanskrit base ruch, of precisely 
similar import, to which we have already called 
marked attention at the end of our examination of 
the Sanskrit series. As this base is one of the 
furthest removed from the more primitive •/*, lih, 
likh, laksh, we may safely conclude that it was 
posterior to those forms in date ; and as a necessary 
corollary, it is the form most likely to be met with 
in derivatives. In this expectation we are not dis- 
appointed, as the following from Sanskrit will prove : — 
rochaka, '' what brightens," ^^ pleases ;" rochana, 
" splendid ;" rochishnu, " gaily attired ;" and rochis, 



152 LINGUISTIC OKIGINES. 

" flame f and, subjectively, loch^ " to see," and 
lochaka or lochana^ " the eye.'^ Professor Th. Benfey, 
in his Sanskrit Dictionary, says, " loch = ruch^ the 
initial r is changed to /, as in the kindred languages," 
and then makes reference to ruch^ under which vocable 
we find ourselves in communication with the Greek, 
XevKos, Xevcrcro}, afjiifn-XvKrj, &G., and Xv^t^o^. These 
words naturally suggest the ideas Xet^^j Latin lingere, 
and the other words to express licking already given 
on p. 142. That shining is intimately associated with 
smearing in Greek may be inferred from the words 
XtVo?, " grease," Xa/^Tro), " to shine," and Xdixxl/is, 
" splendour ;" words which reappear in the Latin 
lua;^ lumen^ luceo^ lychnis. In this sense the base 
• / • is found all over Europe as the idea of brilliance, 
or " light," is represented by Jjumiere, ijampe, JJiire^ 
in French, by uacerna in Italian, by ijamparas in 
Spanish, by OLampados in Portuguese, by i^ampor in 
Swedish, by i^amper in Danish, by j^ampen in Dutch, 
by 'Lampadii in Eussian, by i^ampy in Polish, by 
jjeuchten^ Licht, in German, by jAuchan, Luchjan, in 
Old High German, by hiuhath in Gothic, by hios in 
I^orse, by i^eus in Gaelic, by Luc^ha, Luia, in Breton, 
by LMg in Welsh, and by Light in English. The 
English light is found in the Anglo-Saxon words 
leoht, lioht^ leoma (flame), ge-lihtan^ and locian, the 
last word meaning " to see," and being the Sanskrit 
base loch ( = ruch, Benfey), in, almost, purity. When 
to the Anglo-Saxon leoma we add the Gothic lauhmuni 
and liuhtjan, we think we have satisfactorily de- 



THE WORD *' LAW.*' 153 

monstrated the European domestication of this 
base. 

It must not be thought that the base */', "lick," 
^^ shine," is found in European languages only in the 
case of a solitary word, that may have been passed 
from one to the other until all acquired the use of it. 
On the contrary, each language will be found to 
possess numerous words into which this base enters 
as an inalienable and integral element. To establish 
this point, we will cite some words to prove how 
firmly the base is imbedded in English ; and if we 
succeed in that object the reader will, no doubt, credit 
the assertion that the same could be done in other 
languages, without the wearisome detail necessary, to 
establish the fact in each case. 

Lamp {lampe, Fr., lampas^ Lat.) is a kind of light 
or i^antern {lanterne^ Fr., lanterna, Lat.), which sends 
forth 2l fiuame {Jiamme^ Yx.^jlamma^ Lat.) or f hash; 
as does also a fi^amheau (Fr.), which burns with a 
f-Lare^ or, as it was also written, hj.are {hlaren^ Du.), 
that is, a h'Laze {hlcese^ A.S.) or hmght (heorht^ A.S.) 
light. Closely allied to flare is ghare, to dazzle ; to 
gLaze^ to put a gLoss on anything, and gLass (glees, 
A.S.), that which is trans-Lw-cent, through which a 
gLance can penetrate, or a gLeam of light. Gleam is 
certainly the congener of ghitter (glitenan, A. S.), 
ghisten {glisteren^ Du.), ghimpse and ghimmer, the 
PI. Du. glimmen, gliminern, to shine ; Swcd. glimma, 
to glitter ; Norse glima, to shine brightly, to dazzle ; 
Old Norse lioma^ splendour ; A. S. leoman^ to shine ; 



154 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

Old English leem^ Horn, a gleam. Chaucer uses Lowe 
for a flame of light^ which suggests such words as 
'Lightning, anciently called Levin; and the words 
Lvnk^ a torch, and Lin-stocky i. e. a stick for holding 
the match for a gun. 

In this way we see that the derivatives of •/', 
" lick," ^* smear," ^' shine," anastomose with those 
given under '^ Gloriam " (p. 168). One series helps 
to explain the other, for it is impossible to conjecture 
why Sri and slish should have ever come by their sense 
of " shining," unless we discover the ultimate onomatop 
on which they are erected. 

"We leave it to the patient scholar to say whether 
our long argument does not afford reasonable ground 
for believing that •/•, as the exponent of lingual 
action, is really the parent of the diverse ideas which 
we have indicated. 

At p. 147 we have connected another series with 
the same base by introducing the word rdj^ the 
immediate parent of rdjaka, '* splendid," found under 
what we have said of " Eegnare " at p. 165. We lay 
no great emphasis on this alliance, and would be 
understood as leaving it an open question whether 
or not two separate bases have here passed into one 
identical shape. If so rdj^ as connected with raksh^ 
'* to preserve," and with laksh or ruch^ ^' to be 
bright," will have two independent origins. It is, 
however, noticeable that raksh^ " to preserve," through 
its derivative rakshika, *' a watchman," &c., seems to 
convey an idea of 'booking after" {laksh)^ and if so 



THE WORD "LAW." 155 

light and right are etymologically identical, and a 
rule or regulation {regula, Lat.) brings us directly 
to regalis as another form of the word legalis. The 
ease with which these words arrange themselves lends 
much probability to the suggestion. However this 
may be, we think we have proved to demonstration 
that many vocables expressing "shining" took their 
origin from the glossy appearance of a " licked " 
surface ; and that the smearing of the tongue gave 
names to other kinds of smearing, marking, writing, 
applying, laying on, and so developed, with the grow- 
ing wants of man, into the exponents of placing 
together, attaching, fastening, and binding. The best 
proof of the truth of these affiliations is found in their 
extreme simplicity, and the eminently inartificial way 
in which one grows, as it were, out of another. In 
the course of our argument we are never reduced to 
the necessity of talking about Nature^s harmonics, or 
the mysterious correlation of sound and form, and 
such-like wonderful things. The whole affair is very 
simple. An inevitable sound accompanied, and there- 
fore expressed, a natural action, which we can as well 
recognize at the present day as could the first human 
being who uttered it. This simple sound was applied 
to other cognate ideas, as ideas multiplied with the 
gradual dawn of civilization ; and these new ideas 
were distinguished from each other by gestures and 
equally expressive modifying intonations ; until at 
last, the sounds became substantive vocables, the 
onomatopic origin of which was completely lost, and 



156 LINGUISTIC ORiaiNES. 

they had to be passed mechanically from father to son 
in the manner with which we are all familiar. 

This long examination of the word law and its 
associates is an illustration of what we call Collective 
Analysis, which it will be seen differs totally from the 
process of former etymologists, who take a single word 
with its meaning, and then seek its origin by help of 
other words of similar import from other languages ; 
whereas by our method of analysis large numbers of 
words in the same language of similar, but not neces- 
sarily of identical import, are collected together, and 
the feature common to all is eliminated. This com- 
mon bond of union is taken to be the base, and if an 
identical phonic symbol with like import is found in 
any considerable number of words in other languages, 
we then feel sure that we have discovered a natural 
onomatop, more especially when some common action, 
as the licking of the tongue, the puffing of the lips, 
&c., is found to correspond in both sound and sense 
with the derivatives that have led up to it. 



SECTION IV. 

GENERAL ILLUSTEATIONS. 

In this section we shall apply our method to a variety 
of words, in order that its general applicability may 
be apparent; and to make this still more evident, 
we shall take two whole sentences and examine each 
word they contain. 

An idea prevails over the globe we inhabit, among 
civilized and uncivilized nations, — an idea not to be 
contested, — that of a Supreme Ruler of the natural 
phenomena of all eternity, and of which man is, or 
seems to be, the only interpreter. In a telling verse, 
written 2000 years ago, by the prince of Eoman 
lyrics, touching the wonderful dramas that pass in 
heavenly regions, we shall detect as many grand ono- 
matops as words. Ccelo tonantem credidimus Jovem 
regnare (Ode v. 1. 3, Carm.). 

Ccelum^ this vast source of onomatopic vocables 
(called ccelus by Ennius) was, by the Greeks, made 
Kol\-ov^ concave and round, con-cavus^ curvus^ cav- 
us — cuve, Fr., cir-cul-us. From these descriptive 
vocables a large family has been produced, as, for 
instance, ceil^ del, cielo, cir-col-o, cin-gul-a, ceinture, 
cer-cle, coil, san-gle, cin-golo, en-ceinte, urbs cinc-ta, 
Kop-o)vr), cor-ona, crown, chaine, gir-dle, gir-th^ 
char-kh, Pcrs,, a wheel, chakra, Sans. 



158 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

The onomatop on which these words are built is 
found in every class of language, as is shown by Dr. P. 
Boetticher. On the Latin word curvus^ Gr. o--ko\- 
109, Slavonic kol-o^ a wheel, that scholar remarks 
that :— 

^^ The root means to become crookedj and is identical with 
the Hebrew 'q-lj where ^ain is as well a prefix^ as sigma in 
a-Kokio^, Hence we have : — 



Sanscrit 


\x\m\for kar-mi, worm 


Chaldaan 


qal-ma. 


Coptic 


kri-mi. 


Lithuanian . 


kir-mi-nis. 


Irish 


crui-mh. 


Russian 


cher-vy. 


even Finnish 


kar-me/^^ 



He adds that the English word cHm^otz = Sans. 
krimi'ja^ what is born of a worm. 

Among the principal derivatives from this onoma- 
top is circum^ L. (possibly an accusative of circus 
as its adverbial use might seem to indicate : " Hosti- 
libus circum litoribus" — Tacitus); from circum 
arise numerous derivatives, as circumference, circum- 
locution, circonference, Fr., &c. &c., circuitus and 
the circuit of a judge, circem, Lat., to encompass, 
deceive; circulator, L., a mountebank, one who 
wanders round about; cir-ratus, L., what is curled, 
cur-rus, a ringlet; cir-cul-us, L., KLp-Ko<s, a "top" 
which revolves, cir-cus, L., cir-chio. It., /coiXta/co?, the 
abdomen, col-ique, Fr. ; k6\-ov, Gr., a flexure, Xop- 

* Bunsen's Christianity and Mankind, vol. iv. p. 356. 



'' CCELUm" : " TONANTEM." 159 

St), the gut, Lat. chor-da^ whence Eng. cor-d. Other 
examples of the onomatop readily suggest themselves 
in the Lat. cur-rus^ char-iot or car, cur-sio^ running, 
cur-so7'ius^ pertaining to a race, cur-sitore^ to run 
about, cur-sus^ a running on foot (Ital. cor-so, Fr. 
cour-s^ course)^ cur-vus^ Fr. cour-he, Eng. cur-l^ a 
coil of rope, Gr. Kopr) the circular pupil of the eye, 
kolXt}^ the keel^ because curl-ed. When expressive 
of circumference it assumes the form s-cor-tum^ Lat. 
cm>, Fr., the skin or rind; Lat. cor-tex^ Fr. e-cor-ce^ 
es-cor-te, Ital. s-cor-za, Span, cor-tesa, cor-chos, Dan. 
and Swed. cor-k, Du. cor-ke^ kor-k^ Swed. kor-k^ 
Russ. kor-kovoe^ Eng. cor-k. 

Upon this vocable Mr. Wedgwood remarks (Dic- 
tionary of English Etymology, vol. i. p. 378) : — 

" The root cor is widely spread in the Slavonic and Fin. 
class of languages in the sense of rind^ skin^ shell, uniting the 
Lat. cor mm, skin, with cortex, bark. Fin. kuori, bark, shell, 
crust, cream; Lap. Icai'r, bark, shell; Jcarra, hard, rough; 
Esthon. Icoor, rind, shell, bark, cream ; horikj crust. Hung. 
Tier eg, rind, crust, bark ; keregdugo (^?^^(5= stopper), a stopper 
of bark, a cork ; hereg-fa, a cork tree, herges, barky, hard. 
Bohem. Tcuray "kurlca, bark, crust ; Pol. Iwra, bark of a tree ; 
Tioreh, Jcoreczeh, cork, Iwreh-z-'kori/ (a stopper of bark) , cork ; 
— drewniany, a stopper of wood, — szldanny, of glass."'"' 

Tonantem. — This most descriptive onomatop arises 
from the simple articulation u (ukii, Sans., "speech"), 
meaning " to sound." vlulo, Lat., hurler, Fr., Aow/, 
Eng., u//J Norse, wo//J Eng., lupus, Lat., loupe, Fr., 
the howling animal. The base is found in its simplest 
form u in Sanskrit ; and as an instance of its use 



160 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Durgadasa, an old Indian grammarian, gives the 
phrase, KSfate gauh^ " the cow moos" {u becomes av 
in this case by Sanskrit euphonic laws). The ono- 
matop is produced by the mere expulsion of air 
through the nearly closed lips, so commonly and so 
naturally done, when, sitting in the shelter of our 
homes, we hear the wind howl around, and seek to 
describe its gusts. Strengthened in various ways by 
peculiarities of utterance and by the addition of 
particles, this sound animates the following series of 
Sanskrit bases : — to, M, khv, ^u, gh\j^ ^u, t\5s^ diw 
(pron. di-u)^ ru, svl (c.f. /ru, to hear a sound), sM^r% 
swan^ dhwan, dh'an^ tan^ stan^ all of which mean 
" sound," " make a noise." The growing wants of 
man, and his love of exaggeration, caused the primitive 

^ The dot in the last three bases indicates the elision of the u ; 
dhivan passing into dhan by phonetic corruption, the dh sharpening 
into t, and finally assuming the s prefixed to the last. 

The letter t is by no means so unchangeable as its sharp, clear 
dental sound would lead us to expect. 

T changes to — 
D, thus pater becomes padre 

„ tutto 



sc, „ 



totus 

acutus 

angustia 



TZ, 

c. 



terra 



( titit 



titionem, stationem 
justicia, otiosus 
negotiwn, nupticd 



■} 



(Ital.). 
( „ ). 
( » ). 

( »;. 

(Pro v.). 

(French). 

(Span.). 

(Port.). 
c (Walla- 
( chian). 

. .„] (French). 
tesse,oiseau,oisij ) 

negocCy noces ( „ ). 



aguezzo 
angoscia 
( angoissa 
\ angoisse 
C quexar , 
\ queixar 

tzeare 



j tison, saison,jus. 



"toj^antem." IGl 

bases to become rapidly obsolete, and In their places 
the more developed and intensified forms are those 
which are most frequently employed in modern speech. 
Nevertheless, the former activity of the first five of 
the above bases is attested by such words as yoav^ 
Gr., gaunon^ Goth. ; and, possibly, also by the San- 
skrit go ; Gothic gavi^ gauja ; Old High German 
ko ; A.-S. cu ; English cow^ the low-ing moo-ing 
creature ; an alliance much strengthened by the other 
name of the cow, i.e. ox {oxa A.-S., oxe Dan.) in 
which the u comes first, and is strongly aspirated in 
the word fox (vixen., fem.), a kind of ulf ov wolf a 
howling animal, one with a vox or voice. The con- 
nection between voveo, to vow^ Gr. fioco, to cry out, 
vulpes and vowel, has never before been pointed out ; 
but their certain affinity shows, in a remarkable 
manner, how the words that make up language are 
linked together. The Jater forms of the bases above 
given {swan., dhwan., dhan., tan., stan,^) are those 
which move in historic times, giving rise to the 
Sanskrit stanana, groaning ; stanita., stanayitnu., 
thunder ; Icelandic, stynja ; New High German, 
stohnen ; Anglo-Saxon, gestun ; French, etonner ; 
English, stun ; Italian, stordire ; Latin, at-ton-itus ; 
French, e-tour-dir ; Latin, ob-tun-dere aures ; French, 
? e-tou-ffer. The same idea is found in the Greek 

* These dentals need cause no astonishment, they are frequently 
prefixed to bases. A famiHar example is found in t-urn^ t-our and 
t-urris, all from the Sans. v);i, "to go round," the parent of both 
wire and tower. 



162 LINGUISTIC OEIGINKS. 

reivto, p.m. reraTai {roveopv^a), arivio, tows; the 
Latin, tono, tonare, tonitrus, tonitruum; the French, 
tonnerre; Old High German, donar ; New High Ger- 
man, donner; Anglo-Saxon, thunor ; the terrible 
thunder of to-day— the </mw«?er-bolt. In milder ac- 
cents we encounter tone, the French and Danish ton, 
Latin tonus, Spanish tono, tonidro, Italian tuono, 
English tin-kle, tin-gle; and by parallel derivation from 
the formwaw, theGr. o-v-piTTw, the Latin «owite, «o- 
ware, sM5Mrrws, murmuring ; smurramen, muttering; 
Italian «wo«o; French *on ; English «OMwi. Indirect 
descent from dhwan come the Sanskrit dhwani, the 
Hindi (^Awwi, a noise, the A.-S. c?^wa«, %«e, Eng. 
din or uproar, meeting again the German donner, the 
Eng. thunder. But of all the forms which the ono- 
matop u assumed, perhaps the most prolific in deri- 
vatives is ru, the parent of the German runSn, to 
speak low ; runa, mystery ; roar, rout, rave, raucus, 
rumour, row, hrook (murmuring stream), rook, a kind 
of c-row, raven (A.-S. hrafn ; Ger. rabe ; O. H. G. 
hrahen; Sans, kdrava; Gr. Kopd^v^ ; Lat. corvus; Fr. 
corbeau). From rw were likewise evolved the San- 
skrit rud, rodana, weeping rwe-fuUy ; rodas, the 
heavens (the abode of roaring storms) ; besides the 
base ran (A.-S. ryn), and after the addition of the 
preposition ai/w (abhiran), it gradually sank into the 
form bhran or vran, whence arose the Greek /Spovrii, 
|8payxo«; French bruit, brouiller ; English brawl; 
French e-branler, that which shakes the canopy of 
heaven — Latin ful-men . 



"CREDIDIMUS : "JOVEM." 163 

Credidimus is a very old verb, which we find pure 
in Sanskrit, under the form srat, srad-dhd^ perfectly 
corresponding to the Latin cred-o^ cred-e me^ croy-ez 
moL We have made out of it creed ^ a symbol, French 
croyance, croire^ cred-ihilite^ cred-it (a sale on promise 
to be paid, an obligation), cred4tor^ cred-ule^ cred-ulite. 
In many languages credidimus implies faith (res 
habere fid-em, Ovid; croire l3i chose) Gr. FeiS-co, Lat. 
vid-eo, Sans, vid^ Fr. voir^ Eng. view. To believe is 
to have con-Jid-QncQ^ to have confidence is to see with 
one's own eyes the reality of a thing actually existing 
or manifested. Out of light, out of faith and con- 
fidence : mihi cred-e^ e/^oi tti^ow. Moliere says, *' Je 
I'ai vu ; dis-je vu ; de mes propres yeux vu^ ce que 
Ton appelle vu,^^ 

Jovem is another most interesting onomatop, which 
means Supreme Ruler, the light and splendour^ lumi- 
nous and resplendent : Z)ez?a = 8€tfds = Sefos=0ed9, 
adj. ^etos = Sans. daiva, divya = divine ; §to, div-inus, 
div-us^ SoL'ixcji/^ de-mon^ dia-hle^ dev-il, all arising from 
the base div^ to shine, to ^2^z-nkle. In Lettonian 
deus=zdaeva^ diewas^ desos ; Celtic dia^ Gael, dicw^ 
God, the heavens, the light, S7J-X09, G?aj/-light, (Eng. 
G?qy=Goth. dags); Ital. di-o^ Span, di-os^ Fr. di-eu^ 
Jove, the electric spark, — the modification of the 
initial of the base being shown in the Sanskrit forms 
dyu, dyut^ zyut^ zut (Jiv-a^ Sans, life ; zi-stan^ Per. to 
live), j2^-piter, e/ot;-is=the Father ol joy^ of the day, 
jour^ Fr. (Sans, dyo^ dyota^ lustre, jyotish^ light; adya 

M 2 



164 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

{i,e, i-dt/u, this light), to-day, Ao-fl?i-e {i,e. hoc die,) Lsit.; 
og-gi, Ital. ; ho-i/, Span.; au-jour-d' hui, Fr.), — the 
Father of y^-bility, re-^oz-cing {je-cus, jo-cus, jo-cor^ 
u-vo, ju-har, Lat.). 

In the " Saturday Review," vol. xxxiv. p. 830 
(Dec. 1872j, a writer remarks: — 

^^ As to Janus we have the forms Januspater, Bianus, Diana, 
and with these Jto^, Alfa, leading to the Latin divinus ; and 
again with the Greek Zeus, we have the Yedie JDyaus, from 
dyu, to shine, and by the side of these we have dy passing 
into j, Jupiter, Janus, Juno, or dj, as in the Djovis of Oscan 
inscriptions^ and the old Italian deity Vedjovis, Vejovis" 

The bases jyut, jut, cited above, show that Indian 
grammarians were familiar with this change oidmioj. 

Div, to shine, is clearly a metaphoric word; it is 
an idea betraying a large amount of discrimination 
in the speaker, and a state of society when such 
things as the shining objects of the sky could be 
contemplated, talked about, and required a name. 
In naming them the speaking animal would seek a 
characteristic mark, and would find it in their di- 
verse nature, in their ^/w-plication, their fickleness, 
tricksiness, or, as we still say, their rfz^-plicity. Such 
must have been the origin of the parent of /^i^i-nkle, 
— the being twi-ce, twi-st'mg, twi-mug, dou-h\mg, or 
changing. Hence it follows that the word two (Latin 
duo, Sanskrit dwi, &c.,) was the fore-runner of dw, 
" to twi-nk\e f and, therefore, to reach the onomatop 
we must trace the numeral. And this is not very 
difficult, for it is obviously based upon the pronominal 
demonstrative base /*, "there," &c., which may be 



"JOVEM" : ^^REGNARE." 165 

called "the remote definite.'' As i betokens that 
which is "here" (see p. 183), so t' designates what 
is " there," or away from the speaker. The one 
describes the speaker, the other the spoken to, or, as 
we still say, the second person, the duplicate of the I. 
As we show on p. 184, the word I is the universal 
exponent of unity, and thou is, perhaps, equally wide- 
spread as the sign of du-sHty, Certain it is that in 
a vast assemblage of words, two numerous to cite, 
and which will readily suggest themselves to the 
reader, forms importing duality and demonstration 
are, basically, obviously allied to the second personal 
pronoun. The result we deduce is that such words 
as that, there, thou, and tivo have a common origin ; 
and that the doubling or uncertain light of the stars 
caused the term to be applied to them. It is marvel- 
lous that such utterly dissimilar ideas as those of deiti/ 
and duplicity, should spring from the same base. 

Regnare. — Genere regio natus, says Cicero in his 
Republic — the action of reign-iug, of having power. 
Regnare is to be rea:, roi, /xoz/og-ap;^'*?' p-rinc-eps, ruler^ 
taking the name from the Sanskrit rij, to stand firm, 
the Greek opdyo), opiyvvyn; Lat. reg-ere, rec-tus ; 
Gothic rak-jan, rail its ; A.-S. rec-can; Eng. righ-t. 
In a secondary sense we have in Sanskrit rich, to 
honour, whence arch or arj, to honour, to shine, the 
Lat. ar^-cntumj further development produces raj, 
to illuminate, to govern, the parent of the Sanskrit 
rdjan, a king; rdjaka, splendid; rdjya, government; 



166 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

and rdjanya^ a soldier; — descendants of which are 
found in the Hindi rdj^ a king ; rand, a prince ; raj- 
put^ a warrior; and rdjputiy courage. The last form 
in Sanskrit seems to have heen rakshy to govern, 
protect, the Latin rea^j prolific source of the Sanskrit 
rakshana^ protecting ; rakshika^ a watchman ; raksh- 
in, a policeman; and even euphemistically, rakshas^ 
a demon ; — in Hindi, rakh-nd, to keep or guard ; rakh- 
wdrd, a shepherd; rakhaiyd^ a keeper; rdchh-as^ a 
demon; and rak-dsi, devilish. Even the Persian 
lash-kar^ an army (for protection), and lash-an, a 
prop or support, arise from the same base, by the 
common change of r to l.^ 

Onomatops are very diversified in character ; some 
are proper, natural, primitive; others figurative, 
metaphoriq, analogic, abstract. Some reflect the 
brightness of the diamond, others are priceless 
pearls, all being of more or less value; — and, like 
gems, they differ in their associations, and are pro- 
duced in difibrent latitudes, under diff*erent circum- 
stances. But Man is the Vulcan that finds, cuts, 
polishes, and harmonizes them; and, for that very 
reason, a vast number of the gems preserve for ever 
the stamp and mark of his workmanship. When 
circulating in society each of these coins of language 

* It is noteworthy that in Arabic, also, traces of this onomatop 
are seen in rqfi\ one who raises or exalts ; raff, a preserver; ra «, 
guarding, a prince ; rdjih, excelling : ra-ah, a chieftain ; rabh, rul- 
ing, governing ; ribabat, lordship, dominion. Also in the Armenian 
rah-bud, a chief. 



U T7XTAT»-r, AXTn. '? 



ENARRANT.' 167 

bears on its face the stamp of its own value ; and the 
different parts of the world — kingdoms, capitals, 
towns, villages, hamlets — vary only in the manipula- 
tion of these natural and eternal symbols. 
Ovid, Met. I. v. 84 :— 

" Prona que ciim spectent animalia csetera terram, 
Os homini sublime dedit, coelumque tueri 
Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus." 

We will give a last quotation, a truly royal inver- 
sion of Cicero's: '^quis est tam vecors, qui, cum sus- 
pexerit in caelum, non sentiat Deum esse?" 

David in the Psalms is made to say : Cceli enarrant 
gloriamDei — a perfect fountain of descriptive vocables, 

Cceli^ as was said before, represents the great orb, 
Tvpo^y the majestic canopy of heaven, that endless czVc/e 
that binds up our globe, for ever and ever effulgent 
with myriads of fires, most glorious and of all colours. 

E-nar-rantj a beautiful and prolific expression, 
akin to the Sanskrit jan, Gr. y7j=yt(y)i^o/xa, yv-vrj, 
yov?!, •yw=yacti Lat. gi-gno, ge-no^ ge-ro^ ge-rato^ 
ge-mius^ ge-rmius^ ge-stio, ge-sco, na-sco, na-scor^ na- 
tus, na-rrare^ gn-arigare, gn-aritas, yC-vcopi^eL, yt- 
vcoo-Kco, yv(jj-(TOfjLaL==know-\edge, judgment, thought. 
The bond of alliance being found in the expression "I 
conceive''^ — I give birth to — I think — shown also in 
the change of the Sanskrit /a/z, to Qon-ceive^ into jnd, to 
-per-ceive, recognize, to kn-ow, yiypaxTKCj, yvaxru^y 
ayvoia, vov^, 8cc., Lat. nosco, co-gnoscOj gn-arus. 



168 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

n-arro ; Pers. ddn-istan {j becoming d, see p. 163); 
Gothic kun-nan, kun-ths ; O.H.G. kna-jan ; A.S. 
cnd'Wan ; Eng. to kn-ow^ cun-mng, to con over. 

Gloriam — that which is glorious, celebrated, illus- 
trious. Found in the Sanskrit sri^ light, splendour, 
beauty, fortune, prosperity, — the Latin Cer-es; it also 
means to heat, burn, make to glow^ — Lat. per-cer- 
pere, per-ci-pio, cre-mare, car-bo; Gr. Kpi^avo^, Kpd- 
fx/BoSi Kap-TTos, Kdp-(j)(o, Kip-vrjixi, Kep'doiy Kep-dvvvjXL, 
k\l-o^= gloria^ /cXe-os KXi-ofiai, k\€-l(o, ceUehro, In 
Sanskrit sri assumed the form 'ri-sh or sli-sh, to 
burn, to glis-ten, the congeners of which are gli-tter, 
gla-ze, glass, glo-se (glesan^ A.S.), glo-ss (gleissen, 
glafiz, Germ., gloser^ Fr. ; glossare, Lat.), to glo-w 
(gloa, Old Norse; glowa7i, A.S. ; gliihen, Germ.), 
glo-ria^ glo-riola, yXa-cjivpo^; ; glo-ra, Norse, to shine, 
to stare. Besides these we find gla-re, to over-dazzle, 
(cla-ruSj Lat.), gle-am, a beam of light, gla-nce, 
gle-nt, gli-mpse^ the ray of light from the eye ; gli-m, 
a light or candle,, and gli-mmer^ to glow, or shine. 
Extremes do, indeed, meet here in glim-mer and 
glo-ry, 

Dei, as we before observed, the Sanskrit Deva^ 
effulgens; the Divine electric spark, the Aaiiioiv^ 
Stacrta, Trai^Sta-SetVoXta, Jovialia, festivals in honour 
of Jupiter. 

Marvellous are, indeed, the changes which most 
onomatops have undergone. Let us examine the word 
flower, and see where it will lead us. 



gloeiam" : "flower. 169 



" Flower." 



It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader of 
this disquisition, of the laws discovered by Grimm, 
Burnouf, &c., regulating the permutations of certain 
letters. To these well established laws, by which a 
tenuis changes to its corresponding media or spiritus 
asper, must be added others, familiar enough to 
Sanskrit scholars, by which the liquids interchange 
and frequently, also, pass into d or t. Besides the 
foregoing, some of the changes here exhibited are 
produced by the addition of separate words, which 
are become absorbed into the body of the leading 
word by the efflux of time. This is the case with 
the Hindi word pUh^ derived from the Sanskrit 
prishtha^ which itself is formed of pri + sthd, "to 
stand forth.'* The Urdu pahup, represents the 
Sanskrit pushpa, i. e. push +pd, to increase by drink- 
ing, a flower. Push, again, is not improbably 
formed of pri-^s, s being a Sanskrit desiderative 
adjunct (the verb ish, to wish), which, by Indian laws 
of euphony, became prish, push, push; — and so on of 
other instances. 

Flower, c^vXX-oi' for (f)v\-Lov (/o/-ium, mono-ph^l), 
flora, flos, fleur, floraison, changing to blume in 
German (the Eng. bloom or blossom; Du. bloem ; 
Swed. blomme ; A.S. bloma; Gothic bloma, blostma ; 
Gr. ^pv-o), to grow ; Ppvos^"" a herb), exists in Hindi 
under the form phul, and this last is from the Sanskrit 

* Cf. the Fr. brouier I'herbe, Eng. broivae. 



1 70 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

base phulL Now the problem before us is, How came 
phull to express what we call a flower ? To answer 
this question we must examine some of its congeners. 
In Sanskrit, besides j9Aw//, ^/ossom,we meet withjoAa/a, 
a j^-uit, and phaUya^ a^-ower, showing an alliance be- 
tween these two phenomena, which leads us directly to 
the basej9Z^/, to enlarge; other forms of this base being 
push^ push^ whence come the common Sanskrit words 
pushti, increase {pushta, Pers., a heap), posha, pros- 
perity, and pushpa a flower. The word still lives in 
the Hindi posh-nd^ pos-nd^ pokh-nd^ to breed, rear, 
foster. 

Returning to our basejoAa/, we find that it receives 
a strengthening s in the forms sphal^ sphar^ sphul^ 
sphur^ all of which are common bases in Sanskrit in 
the sense of " increase," " expand." L and r are, as 
we remarked above, interchangeable in Aryan lan- 
guages, and frequently pass into the cerebral or dull 
sound of d or t ; this causes our bases to re-appear 
under the forms sphat and sphand^ to break forth, 
sphur-chh^svur-chh^ sphut^ sphund^ to ^upand. These 
bases originate a host of words, such as o-(/)e\-o?, 6- 
^eX-Xft), Gr. ; split^ Eng. ; spal-tan^ Old H. G. ; ex-panse^ 
ex-pansion^ spar-go^ di-sper-gere (difflat ventus folia, 
Plaut.)^ Span, spar-cir^ Ital. spar-pagliar^ Fr. epar- 
piller lesfeuilles; re-pand-re^ Fr.; aus-span-nen^ Ger.; 
spend money ; de-penser^ Fr. ; the span of an arch, 



^ See p. 108, about this change of sA into M. 

^ The insertion or omission of a nasal being optional, see p. 106. 



THE WORD ^^ FLOWER." 171 

" G. sparine^ It. spanna^ Fr. espan, empan^ the length 
of the outstretched thumb and ^nger "^Wedgwood, 
The base sphand, to expand, is also found in the 
Latin /rons, frond-eo^frond'escere^frond'Osus^frond- 
ifer^frond-icamus; and in its form phull gives meaning 
\ofru-x^ frU'Ctus^ fru-ctificare^ fru-ctuosus, fru-ctifer^ 
and even m fru-cteta^ bushes, 2indi fru-ticare, to become 
hu-shy. 

The word hushy suggests a new series, based upon 
a phonetic corruption similar to that which produced 
the Sanskrit push out of puL Bush, formerly spelled 
busk, is found in the Icelandic huskr, a tuft of hair, 
a bush, a thicket; and in the French louche, a 
tuft or bunch, whence houchon de paille, a wisp of 
straw, a bouchet, a bush or bramble. Similar forms 
are found in the Fr. bosse, a bunch, hump; the 
Breton bouch, a tuft or wisp; the Frisian bosc, a 
lump or cluster, the Ger. bausch, a projection, 
bundle, bunch; and the Dutch bos, a bunch, knot, 
bussel, a bundle. Bushel and the bush of a wheel 
derive their names from their hollow, swollen out, 
expanded nature, as is seen from the Provencal form 
of the word " boistia, boissa, whence the diminutives 
O. Fr. hoisteau, boisseau, Lat. (A.D. 1214) bustellus, 
a box for measuring, a bushel." — Wedgwood. The 
Du. busse, a box, PI. Du. bilsse, bilske, Ger. biichse, 
lead to the A. S. box, the name of the tree and also of 
a receptacle, akin to the Or. ttu^o?, the box-tree, and 
TTu^t?, a box, Lat. buxus, " Ital. bosso, box-tree, bossola, 
a box, hollow place; Fr. buis, Bret, beuz^ Bohem. 



172 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

pusspan, box-tree, pusska, a box." — Wedgwood, Other 
receptacles are also derived from this base, as is 
shown further on. 

Longitudinal extension is expressed by spin,^ to 
lengthen out {spinnan, A. S., spinnen, Ger., spinder, 
Danish), whence arise spindle, spindel or spille, Ger., 
and a spill, or spindle-like twist for lighting the pipe, 
"N[orse]5 spila spile ^ a splinter, chip, peg; spila, PI. 
D. spilen, to stretch out, to ^:^ open." — Wedgwood, 
The verb spill, to ^pn-nkle, or spread out, seems to 
follow (PI. Du. spillen, to shed, waste, spoil ; Norse 
spilla, to gush, spill, waste), and so, metaphorically, 
to spill, to spoil, corrupt ovfoil. The last word brings 
us to the French^/, a thread, j^^-ament,^/-ature ; Eng. 
^-oss, the Latin pil, pila, Fr. poil, a hair, the pile of 
velvet, — a striking anastomosis affording a remarkable 
confirmation of the genuineness of these alliances. 
Anyhow the Danish spinder, to spin, leads us to 
spider, the spinner ; and so we advance to spine, a 
lengthening out ; spina, Lat. 

Returning to the form sphandj sphuf, &c., with a 
sense of ^'spreading" we have in Sanskrit sphid-d, 
perspicuity; sphut-a, manifest; sphut-ana, opening; 
sphut'drtha, intelligible, i.e, opened meaning; sphut-i 
or sphur-a, a swelling; sphoUa, bursting; sphat-a, 
phat-a, phan-a, phut-a, the expanding hood of a 
snake ; sphir-a, sphdr-a, large, spreading ; and plial- 
gu, the spring time, when nature expands. Other 

* The short vowel conveying an idea ol" tenuity, as in thin, &c. 



FLOWER." 173 

derivatives, deprived of the asper (allied to phal), are 
found in pal-dndu^ an onion, a hul-b^ or j»/-ump root; 
pal'dsa^ yo/-iage, leaf; pall-ava^ a ^proz/t or what is 
sv^eaT> ; — (allied to sphand) pid-aka^ a small pimp-\Q 
or swelling ; pind-a ov pind-aka^ a lump or ball. 

In Hindi the words depart still further from their 
original. Thus we have phul^ a flower ; phal^ a fruit ; 
phul-nd^ to blossom ; phuUd^ swelled ; phuUd-o^ a 
swelling ; phor-d^ a bozl or sore ; phor-nd^ to break, 
sviAt ; phut-nd^ to be broken ; phut^ pliut-% pliut-an^ 
disagreement, i.e. breaking apart; phail-dnd^ to 
spread ; phail-d-o, expansion ; phdl-gun, the spring 
or opening season ; phun-gi^ a sprout or bud (Lat. 
fun-gusy a sprouting growth) ; phal., a ploughshare 
(because an expanded blade, or because it breaks open 
the ground) ; phal4 or phar-i^ a shield or broad object 
for defence ; and phar^ a yr-uit. The same idea of 
" expansion " is found in phd-07'd^ a svav^e ; pha-phol-d., 
a blister ; phan4^ a wedge ; phaUdng^ a stride ; phii- 
hd, a teat or pap ; phdnt-d^ a bough or branch ; and 
pal-lo, a sprig or shoot ; and the idea of " opening 
out " is presented in phdr-nd^ to rend ; phdt-iid, to 
split ; plidt-ak., a gate or opening ; phar-dnd., or 
plias-kdnd^ to split ; phat-d^ a crack ; phat-nd^ to be 
torn ; and even phut or phut-kai\ what is opened out, 
separated, dispersed, and so an unmatched or " odd " 
object. 

The English equivalent for the Hindi word ;>>Aa/-w^, 
i.e. to ,sT/iT, to .vr/^NTcr, helps us to see that the base 
sphand really represents a form sprit nasalized, as we 



174 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

shall show more fully further on. But, in immediate 
connection with the present series, we may observe 
that the Sanskrit bases sphund^ sphant^ sphut^ sphat, 
mean "break," i.e. split or spread out, and from 
these, by loss of initial and the operation of obvious 
phonetic changes, are evolved the bases hhind 
(s+phund), bhid and d becoming j (cf. dyut^jyut^ p. 
163) we get hhdj.^ hhanj^ to divide, separate, or break. 
The last form hhanj is the well known analogue of 
the Latin ^a;z^o, whence are derived all the words 
connected ^\\\\ frac-ture, frag-ment.^ &c., &c., &c. It 
is important also to notice that the Latin frango 
contains the letter r, which has been lost in the San- 
skrit hhanj., thus proving two things, first, that the 
Latin is older than the Sanskrit form of this word ; 
and, second, that the word hhanj is certainly the con- 
gener of such words as hryt-^n, A. S. ; hriot-a., Icel. ; 
bris-er, Fr. ; bryte^ Dan.; and the Du. spriet, a spear^ 
how -sprit^ a split or splini-er of wood, the Sans. 
sphant or sphand. 

In India, a long succession of grammarians pre- 
served from antique times a knowledge of the older 
forms of words, and the earnest study of a vast 
literature counteracted, to some extent, the ordinary 
processes of phonetic corruption ; hence it results 
that we have but little difficulty in recognizing our 
bases phal, sphand^ &c., in all the foregoing Indian 
words. In countries not so favoured, we must not 
expect to find this purity ; nevertheless in Persian, 
at least, there is sufficient correspondence to enable 



THE WORD "flower." 175 

US to walk on the solid ground of fact. In Persian, 
pdl-dyidan means *^ to increase ; " pdl-udan^ " to be 
large;'' and pdl-ddan^ "to stretch." Here we are 
clearly dealing with the Sanskrit phall or pul, " to 
enlarge." ^ In Persian the letter jo is never aspirated, 
on the contrary it is often softened into h ',^ hence 
we meet with hdl-dydnidan^ to extend, enlarge; 
bdl-dn, increasing; bdl-ish or pdUish^ growth, in- 
crease ; pdUdnanda, augmenting ; hdl-u or pdl-u^ a 
wart or swelling ; bdl-ud, increase ; bdl-in, a pillow^ 
and bdl'Ung^ a cucumber, both being bul-'ky objects. 
Other changes are illustrated by pil, "" a swelling ; 
pil-tan, bulky ; jnt/dz^ an onion or bulb ; pinda, a 
drop, spot (cf. Sans, pinda, a ball) ; and pind-ish, a 
ball of cotton. The leter / is, as usual, often replaced 
by r, giving rise to par-dsh or par-was, expansion ; 
bar or pdr-i, fruit, flowers ; pdr-o^ a shovel, paddle ; 
par-war^ nourishing ; par-osh pimples or swellings ; — 
and pddal, a flower ; pdna, a wedge ; and pdshida, 
a pumpkin, also, possibly, take their origin from the 
base jxul, " to enlarge." 

The bonds of alliance between Aryan and Semitic 
languages are too slight to allow the scholar to com- 
pare such languages with much confidence ; still it is 
worthy of remark that in Arabic also the idea of 
" expansion " finds expression by a somewhat similar 

* The Sanskrit j9aZ will be mentioned anon. 

'' The tenuis becomes, frequently, spiritus asper in Persian ; thus 
the English grip (Sans, grahh) is, in Persian, giriw-fan. 
^ Cf. the series of bases containing pri on p. 178. 



p 



176 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

sound. Thus, in that language, hdl means a " spade," 
and also " affluence ; " and hawl signifies " bursting 
out." 

When the extension is lateral, the base pul (or pri^ 
which we shall shortly find is the same thing), is 
strengthened with a dental, and, in Sanskrit, it 
becomes pra-th, pri-th^ pa-th. From these forms 
arise such words 2i^ pri-thu, in English hrodid (Germ. 
auS'hreit-en) ; pri-thwi, the earth ; pra-thd or pra- 
thiti^ fame, celebrity; jora-^Ama;z, greatness ; pra- 
thima^ chief, excellent ; prithuka^ flattened grain ; 
pri'thutd^ largeness ; pri-thula, large ; patra^ a 
leaf (because Jidit) ; and prishtha the back or 
broad part of the body.^ In Hindi we meet with 
pUh^^ the back; pirtam^ the world; path^ a road 
or path ; pathik^ a traveller ; pdt, pattd^ patti, 
a leaf ; pdtra^ a broad dish ; pdt broad ; prathd, 
immemorial custom ; pdtan^ a roof. These Hindi 
words present us with some very corrupt forms; 
but still further corruption shows itself in the 
Persian pahan^ width {pdt^ Hindi, prithu, Sans.); 
pahnd^ broad ; and hddya^ any capacious vessel 
{pdtra^ Hindi, prithula, Sans.). But it is in 
European languages that the most remarkable changes 
of this word are to be found ; for we recognize the 

^ PrisJitlia is the word which explains the use of the dental affix. 
It is formed o^ pri + slitM {==pra^-stM), i.e. " forth-stand," to be 
placed, put, or to be forth in all directions, hence hroad. 

^ This word pitJi is only a phonetic corruption of prishtha, the 
Sanskrit word above given. This affords unanswerable evidence 
that^n, iJaly &c., can degenerate into such remnants us pi SLndpa. 



THE WORD " FLOWER." 177 

base pul-\-tha in the word PLaxe {platte^ Fr., piatto, 
Ital., platt, Germ.), that is a FLaT or sTReaD out 
surface; — a BLaDe of grass is a BRoaD object (A.S. 
blad^ Fr. ble, Germ, breit)^ as is also a BoaRD (Germ. 
bret) ; a floor is aflat (Germ, platt) surface, and so 
are the Yijuke of an anchor, a Thank of wood (planke, 
Germ., planche^ Fr.), the TLan of a country, and pr^, 
Fr., a meadow. 

The ^PttDe (of which 5P00N seems a modification) is 
another instance of the expression of expanded surface 
by the base sphand, showing a near approach to the 
form pal in the Fr. word pelle, a shovel, Ital. pal-etta, 
a small spade ; the Fr. pal-ette^ a painter's pal-let^ the 
small tabula on which his pigments are mixed ; with 
a secondary sense in the French word palette^ " a 
battledore," — plainly showing that the sound merely 
expresses extended surface. 

The blade, the flat, or extended vegetable surface 
is expressed in Latin by fol-ium^ {tri-/olium = treFhe 
Fr.), from which proceed Jbl-io, im-foil^ in-fol-io^fol- 
ded (pleat-ed; pie, ¥r,) ; /ol-iol^Jbl-iomor; hence arise 
fol-iage^fol'iated^fol'iaceous^fol-iation, fol-iature, fol- 
ier^ Fr. (fluttering pieces of tin). Then we find Jbl- 
leatusj expanding like n Jbl-les; fol-licans^ fol'liculus 
(the envelope of fruit — frumenti vagina, Cic) fol- 
ligena, and /ol-lis. In French the Lat. folium becomes 

* We may notice here the small impoi-tance of vowels as a means 
of discriminating bases. Fol- is the same as pul and pal and pil : 
the vowel may even be elided altogether, as in ^-at and tre^-e> 
above given. 

N 



178 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

feuille^ feuillage^ ef-feuiller^ to pick up leaves; and, 
in the sense of " flower," fleurette^ fleuron (in print- 
ing), fleuron (in hoid^xij)^ fleuraison^ fieur-de-liser^ to 
mark with a hot iron, fleuriste^ a florist ; so also de- 
flor-er^ to take the flowers of virginity ; de-Jior-ation^ 
the act of doing so, to de-flower. 

Now before we seek to eliminate the onomatop from 
which the word flower derives its sense of expansion, 
it will be necessary to follow the base pul through 
another channel of derivation. Expansion or enlarge- 
ment takes place in consequence of distension from 
Jul-ness, This word Jull, indeed, presents the base 
pul in one of its earliest meanings ; for in this sense 
it assumes, in Sanskrit, simpler forms^ enabling us, 
by their means, to reach to the ultimate base under- 
lying the whole system. These forms are — pur, purVy 
purv, parVy plush, pru-sh, prd, prin, pri, and pri. 
All these bases mesxi Jill; and the last two are what 
Professor Max Miiller calls " primitive roots." Their 
claim to that title will be examined in the sequel; 
but first we must show that in this sense also the 
base pul has been well used. In Sanskrit we get 
pur-a, filling ; pur-natd, plenty ; pdr-ana, fulfilling, 
and pdr-iy a cup (both from pri) ; the verb pdl,^ to 
nourish ; pdl-ana, cherishing ; pdl-a^ a guardian ; pur- 

* This base is considered by most Sanskrit scholars to be the 
causal form of pa, to preserve, from piy to drink, to nourish ; but 
the peculiar insertion of I in the causal of the verb pd^ shows that 
the base arose by the conversion of pri into par, then into pal and 
pal. 



179 

ta, complete; pur-na^ able, strong. Hindi gives us 
pur-d^ fully; sam-purn^ full; piird4, fulness; pul-dy 
piilty and pol-ak, bundles of straw; jydl-nd, to nourish, 
&c., &c. The prolific vocables for-ma^ Lat., for -me ^ 
Fr., for -mo y ItaL, are also seen in the Hindi purdi^ 
fulness; Lat. am-pul-la, a stout jar; Fr. am-poule, a 
bubble. 

In Persian we ^udi pur-idan^ to fill; jnir-d, fulness; 
pur-wdvy fatted, or filled out; pdr, past, comjo/eted, 
&c. In European languages this base frequently re- 
curs in this sense ; as, for example, ple-nus^ ple-onasm, 
ple-nitude, re-ple-nish, am-pli-ation, am-pli-tude, af 
flu-ence, po-pul-us, pl-ebs, pl-us, plu-rimus, tti/x-tiX'^- 
fiL'y Lat. im-ple-rej Fr. em-pli-r, sup-pli-er, Eng. sup- 
pjli/j re-ple-te, Fr. com-ple-ter, ple-in, accom-pli-r, to 
accom-p/z-sh ; Gr. TrXe-toi^, ttXov-to?, rich, ttXtj-Oos, ple- 
thora., 7r\e-o9, several, plu-raAity] Lat. Sim-plus, am- 
///e; A.S.fullyft/llan; Goihio,, full] an; Fr. re?nplir, 
s'emplir, ex-j)le-tf; Ger. full-en^ voll, aus-fall-end. 
The part of the body which is filled and expands is 
termed the hel-ly, clearly a derivative from fill; in 
German bauch, and, by metastasis, leih; in French 
panse or ventre^ both of which are obviously allied to 
the Hindi ;>e/,* 7;e/A, or pern {petiiy gluttonous); and 
the Sanskrit phanda or phdnday the belly, in which 
last we see Qx-pand almost pure and simple. Addi- 

*By some such changes as the following: — ^;rj becoming par, 
then j9«Z, and/rtZ im(\fad and fanil, thou vcnt{\'(i)\ the t softening 
to *, Avould make vens-^ whence pa/ise. More probably pawsc came 
directly from the Sans, phdnda, the parent of the M'wuW prt. 

N 2 



180 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

tional examples are found in the Greek 7rXa-ro9, 
dilate, TrXa-rv?, Lat. la-ins, ample, irXanov, Plato, the 
master of Aristotle, the man with the large chest, 
7r\d-Tavo<s, the j»/a-tanus, the pla-ne tree, whose 
branches spread out, TrXa-rela, a large road ; also in 
such words as pl-ump, bowl, bowel {boyau, Fr., boel, 
Old Fr.), bulb, a ball; and in bourse, purse, a ba-g. 
Again, fivpcra, bourse, Ital. borsa gonjilata, Fr. bourse 
gonflee, enjlee,pleine, &c. ; bour-geons of flowers, bu-ds 
(akin to pa-ds, pa-dding), bourree, a bun-die of small 
sticks, bour-reler, bour-let, a kind of cushion filled 
with hair, a pad, bour-relier, the man who fills horses' 
collars with flocks. There are also diminutives, as 
bour-sicauld^ a small purse and bour-son, a small 
pocket; besides the noun bour-soufflage, inflation. 

Of this word bourse Mr. Wedgwood gives the fol- 
lowing congeners: — ^' It. bolgia, bolza, Gris[ons], 
bulscha, buscha, a budget or leather wallet; Sp, bolsa, 
a bag, purse, exchange. Hence with the common 
change of an I for an r (as Sp. peluca, Fr. perruque). 
It. borsa, borsia, borza, Fr. bourse. 

" From the It. form bolza seems derived bolzac- 
chini, Sp. bolzequin, buskins, originally signifying 
bags of skin into which the feet were thrust, as Sp. 
bolsa, bag lined with furs or skins to keep the feet 
warm. — Neumann. The same change from / to r, as 
in bolsa, borsa, gives It. borzacchini, Du. broseken 
(Fr. brodequin), E. buskin. In like manner it seems 
that the original meaning of boot was a leathern bag, 
as in Sp. bota, which signifies both a leathern bag to 



THE WORD "flower. 181 

carry wine, and also boot, a leathern covering for the 
leg and foot. Du. hote^ hoten-schoen pero^ calceus 
rusticus e crudo corio. — Kil." (vol. i. p. 277.) 

But the filling up of any object or person satisfies 
the recipient; and the idea of satisfaction is also ex- 
pressed by the base we are examining. It meets us 
in the words play, j^/e-a^e, ple-asure, pla-cere, Lat. ; 
plaire, Fr. ; he-frie-digen, freund^ Ger. ; fri-end^ Eng. ; 
and in the Sanskrit bases prin^ PT^d^ spri, pri, piy, 
pri, pri, also in the developed bases sphant, sphand, 
sphutj and sphund, the last four meaning play, and 
the rest please. It is needless to cite many examples 
of this most prolific form of the base ; they come 
ready to hand in the Sanskrit pri-ya^ beloved (Persian 
ydr, a friend, pydr, afiection) ; pri-yaka, a bee; pri-ti, 
gratification; pre-man, kindness; paur-ta, a pleasing 
work, &c. ; also in the Hindi pre-m or pem^ love ; and 
pemi^ a lover, &c. 

The foregoing has shown us that the verb pr^ — the 
past participle of which is piirna^ giving rise to the 
secondary base pur or pul^ and the tertiary bases 
sphut^ sphand^ &c., — originates a vast assemblage of 
words with pleasure at one end, and the span of an 
arch at the other, all which words meet at a point in 
the word bel-ly., in which both the ideas of "ex- 
pansion '' and of "satisfaction" find expression. The 
extreme plasticity of primitive bases having thus been 

^ A probable series of phonetic changes being — pri, ptr ov pih', 
pul, phCd or pal, phall, phad, phand, sphand. See p. lOG for chaugc 
of / to d. 



182 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

somewhat lengthily demonstrated, we are in a position 
to carry the inquiry still further, and to endeavour to 
reach the cause of all, that is, to endeavour to ascer- 
tain how it is that the sound pri (which is the most 
primitive of all the forms the base assumed) in the 
first instance acquired its sense of " extension." To 
effect this we resolve it into two parts pr + i. The 
j9r, or rather the p only,^ is the original onomatop 
from which the prepositions pra^ per^ pro^ irpo^ ft 
Arabic, foi\ forth^ forward^ Sec. &c. ad infinitum^ 
received their birth : it is the very natural expression 
of out-going — the forvy^ard puff of Breath, That the 
sound j9Z(^ enters into articulate speech we have dis- 
tinct evidence in the Persian verb puf-idan^ to blow, 
also in the Sanskrit pliut^ an imitative sound occurring 
frequently in the lighter w^orks;^ and in the word 
phut-kdra^ hissing, crying aloud, beside the common 
English phrase "to be puffed up" (Galla afufa^ 
Hungarian fuv-n% Scotch fuff\ — Wedgwood). The 
letter p as the exponent of ex-p-ulsion {^expulsum^ 
pulso^ Lat., pousser, Fr., push^ Eng.) is also the 
ultimate onomatop from which springs the Sanskrit 
vzj and vd^ to Blow, vd-yus, wind, &c. 

The p being thus accounted for, there remains but 
i, a simple onomatop expressive of motion, existing 
quite pure in the Sanskrit 2*, to go, in the Egyptian 

The letter r, as is well known, imparts a sense of quickness to 
Aryan words, without otherwise altering their sense : of. run, rush^ 
valid, ra^nd, &c. &c., and the Sans. ^, to go, and ri, to go, &c. 
^ The Fanchatantram, for instance. 



183 

Hieroglyph e'izzgo; and in the Latin eo, &c. This 
base might be more correctly defined as " the proxi- 
mate definite,"" and may be illustrated by the word 
he-re^ {here, A. S.; her, Du. ; hier, Germ.; i-dhar, 
Hindi; iha, Sans.), implying motion towards the 
speaker, and when intensified it takes what, in San- 
skrit grammar, is called the vriddhi substitute, and 
becomes ai (pronounced like the word ei/e), and when 
strongly aspirated becomes hi! hi! (Sans, hai/, to 
make a noise) so constantly used when inciting to 
motion. As a definer of that which is proximate this 
base gives life to many vocables ; as, for example, the 
Sanskrit i-ha, here; i-hatya, of this place; i-tas, 
hence; i-tara, other (beyond this); i-dam, this; i-dd- 
mm, the present time; i-va, like, in this form; i-ti, 
thus, in this way; i-ttham or i-tthd, thus; i-dris, this- 
like; e-tad, this-here; and, by phonetic corruption, 
a-dya, to-day (for i-dyu—\\\\'& light, see p. 164; in 
Hindi this word becomes, by still further corruption, 
a-b)\ a-ifa^, hence (cf. i-tas, above); a-tha, now; a-tra, 
here. In the modern Hindi we find i-t, here; i-dhar, 
hither; i-ttd or e-td, this much; i-tnd or e-tnd, this 
many ; ya-hdn, here ; y-un, thus {y = i) ; i-tek, this 

* The argument that follows shows that the distinction between 
demonstrative and predicative bases, contended for by Prof. Max 
Miiller, has no existence in fact. 

^ The h in these words stands for an ancient sibilant, found in 
the Sans, sa, Lat. sihi, still surviving in the English sJie, though 
lost in he, and dcntalized in the (Sans, tad). The sibilant is a de- 
finer of the proximate, " the this; " the dental defines that which 
is more remote, " the ihaty 



184 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

much; ai-sd this-like; and, in the Braj dialect, i-tau, 
here. Tn Bengali also: i-ni^ this person; i-hdte, 
hereby; e or eij this; e-mot, thus; e-khdne, here; ei- 
hetuk, hence; ei-sthane, hither; ei-ovodh% hitherto, 
&c. These vocables find their equivalents in Europe 
in such words as he-re^ hi-ther^ he-nce ; z-cf, Fr. ; i-d^ 
i-dem, ea-dem, i-h% i-bidem, Lat., &c., &c., &c. 

But there is yet another idea arising out of this 
proximate definite, for the very acme of approximation 
is Self, and subjectively this idea assumes the double 
form of Personality and Unity. I is the natural ex- 
ponent of personality, and shows itself on the surface 
of widely scattered languages a-ni, Hebrew (as a suffix 
-^); a-na\ Arabic; a-nak^^ in the Egyptian Hiero- 
glyphs; 'nek^ or 'nekki^ in the Berber dialect; 'noca, 
in the Quichua language; 'nga^ Burmese; 'go^ in the 
Canton dialect; ^-u in Chinese; /, English; i-k, 
Dutch ; a-ku^ Malayan ; i-ch, German ; J-e, French ; 
i-Oj Italian ; s-i-hrih or 5-EY-ree, Georgian; e-go^ Latin; 
e-yo), Greek ; a-ham^ Sans. ; m-ai-7i^ Hindi ; man^ 
Persian — the last coming round almost to the Semitic 
ani. In its sense of unity — the I — the one — it is of 
universal recurrence. It is the e-ka of Sanskrit, the 
Hebrew e-khad^ the a-ce of cards, the Pehlevi a-chad^ 

f * The base of this word, and, therefore, of the other Semitic 
forms an% ana', nelc, &c., is proved to be a vowel both by the 
Hebrew suffix -i, and also by the personal termination of verbs in 
the Hieroglyphs. In the latter case it is articulated as a ; thus m^r, 
to love, M'-li-^, J love ; so at^w-«, my father. 
^ Sounded like the English (m)cye. 



THE WORD "FLOWER." 185 

the Persian y-ak or e-h^ and the nominal affix -i (as 
mard-i^ one man), the Japanese i'ts\ the Georgian 
z-ee ; the German ei-n^ Norse, ei-tt, the Dutch ee-n^ 
the French u-n^ the Italian u-no^ the English a-n^ ane, 
one. So natural is it to man to express unity by this 
articulation that no process of decay or length of time 
seems sufficient to destroy its traces. Thus in the 
Tamulic group of languages one is expressed by the 
Toduva won^ the Malay alam on-na^ the Tuluva on-j% 
the Gond im-di^ the Malabar and Canarese on-du^ the 
Uraon-Kol un-ta^ the Tamil on-ru^ the Telugu o-ka^ 
the last anastomosing with the Ugric group of lan- 
guages, represented by the Tsheremissian i-k^ the 
Lappish a-kt^ the Esthonian il-ks^ the Finnish y-ksi^ 
the Hungarian e-gy^ the Vogulian d-kvd^ the Mord- 
vinian vdi-ke^ the Syrianian o-tik, and the Ostiakian 
it, f, ja. Around the Caucasus, also, may be met the 
Abchasian a-ka, the Georgian e-rthi or z-ee, the Min- 
grelian a-rti, the Suanian e-shchu: the Mandshu 
e-mu is clearly the same onomatop, and so, among 
Mongolic people, is the Aimak n-i-kka, the Sokpa 
n-e-ge^ and the Olot n-i-ke. Nor have we yet done 
with it ; for the Taic group supplies us with additional 
examples in the Kassia w-ei, the Shan n-ei-n, the 
Khamti, Laos, and Siamese n-ii-ng, and the Ahom 
l-i-ng; the Lohitic group presents the Dhimal 
e-longj and the Mikir i-chi; the Gyami gives us 
i-kuj the Kong-Chinese, or spoken dialect, y-ut, and 
finally we obtain it quite pure in the Chinese 'z, " one."- 
In all these numerous examples it is seen that 



186 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

various modifications of the sound i are used to ex- 
press " unity " all over the world, and that " unity " 
— the one — the I — is also the exponent of proximity 
— "here," — and of motion towards the speaker — 
"here," "come here," and likewise of motion in 
general — i. Sans., "to go." In this last form the 
sound became a true vocable, all knowledge of its 
onomatopic origin being gone ; and, as a symbol of an 
idea, i with its sense of " motion " could, and did, 
conjoin itself with other vocables, as, for instance, r, 
in H, "go quickly"; and .finally superadding jO', 
" forth," became pri, " to go forth," the base of all 
the words we have been examining. 

The -word flower has thus led us a long way; yet 
however strange may appear the ultimate origin of so 
highly organized a word, we have seen that the path 
we have trod, though long and devious, has always 
been one of solid fact. In no part of this disquisition 
has the imaginative faculty had any play; we move 
from fact to fact in a tedious but certain and scien- 
tific manner ; and the rational result at which we 
finally arrive is at once the keystone, crown, and test 
of the entire argument, by which its truth can be 
instantly established. We see that the words flower, 
expand^ fill, &c., spring out of pri, which itself means 
go-forth^ and all its manifold derivatives open their 
meanings at once to this master key, by which the 
going forth, opening out, filling, satisfying, pleasing^ 
are seen to be but various forms of the one idea, which 
underlies and gives vitality to the whole- 



THE WORD "bee." 187 



" Bee." 



An onomatop is a natural euphony itself, the supre- 
ma lex of language — it is cause and effect — something 
like the primitive instinct of animals, it is a music 
that offers an unlimited diversity of harmonies. 

Having expatiated on the remarkable onomatops of 
Cicero, we bring our reader to the humble hee of our 
gardens and proceed to discuss its onomatop. 

Everyone knows what a bee is, but few know why 
it has been called by that name. The Sanskrit base 
on which it was built is p^, which means p-ump^ suck, 
drink, the Chinese f-ung, Fr. b-oire, pi-per. The 
Greeks made the vocable tti-co, ttl-vo)^ the Latins pi-no^ 
pro-pi-no, to drink the health, and M-bo, poto, in the 
Quichua language u-pi-ani. The insect is called in 
Italian ape, pe-cchia ; in Spanish it is a-be-ja; in Bur- 
mese py-ah; in Japanese ba-tsi; in Georgian b-shey; 
and in English bee; A. S. beo; Icel. by-fluga (the 
sucking-fly); Ger. bie-ne\ Gael, be-ach. 

The Latins made many vocables from it, such as 
a-pi-s, a-jie-Sj a-pi-anus^ a-pi-ariumj a-pi-arius, a-pi- 
ostra^ a-pi-ostrwn, a-pi-cula^ po-trix^ po-tor^ po-tus ; 
whence the English po-tion, po-tage^ po-table, po-t or 
bu-tt, be-verage, and bee-r. In the interesting letter 
written by Dr. Livingstone to Mr. Bennett, Insama, a 
chief of south-eastern Africa, is spoken of as calling 
his cup and beer, po-mbo! 

The fertile germ whence the word bee had birth is 



188 LINGUISTIC OIIIGINES. 

likewise progenitor of nature's chief, the Sanskrit 
pi'tri, ¥jug. Ja-ther, TraTrjp, pa-ter, pe-re, who causes 
everything to grow for the pa-hulum vitcB^ the nourish- 
ment of man, the head of the family, its protector 
and defender, and who has been called by the same 
onomatop all over the globe. 

The Sanskrit pd^ which is only a developed form 
of pi^ makes pi-vdmi in the present tense, and passes 
to the Greek as tti-o;, ttl-vco, reduplicate vre-Tro-zca, to 
drink ; the Latin po-tus, po-culum, changing to the 
English be-verage, in French hoi-sson; and a poor 
hoisson is called pi-quette, because of its acidity. The 
Italians made of it be-veraggio, be-vanda, po-zione, 
and vi-nello (of small strength), French petit vi-n 
(little wi-ne) or pi-quette, vin, vin-aigre, and wine^ 
being only phonetic corruptions of pi, bi, or vi. In 
this sense this onomatop gives vitality to such words 
as the Sanskrit pi-ti or pi-tu, drink ; pi-tha, or pa- 
thas, water ; pay-as, milk ; pd-naka, beverage ; and 
pi-yusha, the nectar of the gods: push-va (Urdu 
pahu-v), a flower, is formed oi push, to increase, -^ pd^ 
by drinking ; and a tree is called pdda-Ta, or foot- 
drinker, because deriving its nourishment from the 
root. In Hindi we meet with pey, pay, milk ; pain, 
a reservoir of water ; pau-h, a stand where water is 
kept ; po-kliar, a lake or pond ; py-dnd or py-dwnd, 
to make to drink ; and py-ds, thirst. In the last 
word the letter s is the remains of the word ish, to 
wish; so that pyds {pipdsd, pipdsu, Sans.) is really 
jn 4- ish, to wish to drink, hence thirst. In Hindi we 



THE WORD '*BEE." 189 

have also the interesting word pi-nd, to drink, to suck, 
also applied to the smoking or rather sucking of a 
pipe. From pmd come both pi-pd, a ba-rrel, and pi- 
pi, a pipe or s-pou-t. In Persian we find the vocables 
pi-ydla, a drinking cup; pd-h and pd-ziim^ food, /pa- 
bulum ; and the word pud, almost identical with the 
English food (j9WG?-ding), Ger. Jud-der, Eng. fod-der. 
That beautifully articulated and wonderfully con- 
structed language, the Sanskrit, lays bare many of 
the processes by which onomatops change both form 
and meaning. Thus there are derivatives or secon- 
dary bases springing from pi in the sense of '^ swelling," 
*^ increasing." These bases are pyai, VV^V^ sphdy^ 
and they originate such words as splidti and sphiti^ 
swelling, increase ; pi-vana and pi-vara^ large, fat ; 
pi-ntd, fatness; — and, according to Professor Th. 
Benfey, probably phe-na, froth, and phe-nala, foamy. 

This j)cl of Sanskrit indicates nourishment rra-eiv, 
pO'Wer, and lives in pa-ste, pastry, pasture, pa- 
rentage, making in Greek Trei'dofiai, subdue to 
obedience. In this sense we get the Sanskrit nouns 
pi'tri, the nourishcr, the father (Japanese, f-to a 
man), pa-ti, a lord or master, — Zend pai-tis, Gr. 
7rd-crt9, pO'Oir, possess, po-u-oir, and finally po-wer, — a 
master, husband ; as well as po-tatio, po-tation, tto-XXt), 
(j)L\6-7ro'Tr)<; = potator, po-tion, poison, puissant, po- 
ssihle, Lat. hos-pes, hos-pi-tium, Fr. hos'te ho'te, 
ho'telerie, ho'tellier, Eng. hos't, hos'try (in the 
last six the elision of pi is marked by a dot). 

In Persian pati, a master, a husband, becomes pad 



190 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

and hud^ a master, and pdh^ puh^ hdh^ hdhd^ are 
used for " father," while hd-n represents a '' prince," 
and pa-nah^ a protector ; the Arabic hd\ 
nobility, and the Turkish bdshd^ a lord or master, 
may have a similar origin. The Sanskrit pitri^ 
father, becomes padar or pidar in Persian, which by 
phonetic corruption, changes to piyar^ whence comes 
pir^ an old man, a reverend senior, and pirana^ 
'' elderly." 

The base pi^ besides its subjective sense of " nou- 
rish," was also applied to the object, — the one 
nourished, and so assumed in Sanskrit the form pu-tra 
a nursling, a child, pu-er, a h-oy^ derivatives of which 
are found in the Latin pu-ella^ pu-ellaris^ pu-ellariter ^ 
pu-ellarius^ pu-ellascere^ pu-ellatorius^ pu-elliter^ 
pu-ellula^ pu-erascere^ pu-eraster^ pu-erculor^ pu- 
erigenus, pu-erilis^ pu-erilitas^ pu-erilia, pu-ernius^ 
pu-erperus^ pu-eriliter^ pu-erulur ; and the Spartan 
TTolp for TTai's = TTvepa^ a girl. 

The following Table exhibits the possible phonetic 
corruptions of the word father in 200 languages. It 
it designed to show the gradual series of modifications 
by which words, apparently quite different, may have 
been evolved from each other. It will be seen that 
Turanian and Semitic words find their natural places 
among undoubted derivatives of the Aryan father,^ 
The outx of the Canadian Indians is quite as much 
like father as the Bulgarian otskve, and the only 

'^M. Pictet, in "Les Aiyas Primitifs," says (p. 348) that the 
bases p<z and ma are "repandus an loiu dans le mondo ciitier." 



191 

reason for considering it to have had an independent 
origin, is that, from want of a literature, we are 
unable to trace its history, but in the case of the 
Bulgarian word we can do so. It will be thought 
that we are mixing two distinct bases together by 
including the forms of tdta under those of 'pitri^ and 
this may, in fact, be the case. We have included 
them because it is possible to suppose them parts of 
one series in a way indicated by their arrangement 
in the Table ; and we must leave this arrangement 
to gain what weight it can. Enough has been said 
in different parts of this book to show that words 
undergo strange transformations by mere phonetic 
corruption. It is worthy of remark, also, that the 
Greek language possesses all three forms of our 
arrangement naTiQpy Terra, and drra. The obscure 
Turanian languages, furthermore, still await the in- 
vestigation of scholars like the brothers Grimm, to 
point out the laws of permutation at work in their 
midst. We all know the great results which followed 
when Humboldt shed the light of his genius on the 
Kawi language. 



192 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



PI-TRI='Hhe nourisher." 

N.B. — The letter p, at times, becomes flatus-asper^ 
then asper^ and finally disappears. 



1. Sanskrit 


- pi-tri. 


2. Zend 


- pai-tar. 


3. Persian 


- pa-dar. 


4. Algerian - 


- pe-der. 


5. Hiiidi - 


- pi-ta, bap. 


6. Bengali - 


- pi-ta. 


7. Singhalese 


- pi-ta. 


8. TawiZ 


- bi-ta, appa. 


9. (rr^g^ - 


- Tra-Trjp, 


10. Latin 


- pa-ter. 


11. Italian 


- pa-dre, pa-pa. 


12. Spanish - 


- pa-dre. 


13. Catalan 


- pa-re. 


14. Portuguese 


- pa-y, pa-e. 


15. Sardinian 


- pa-re. 


16. Gascon!) - 


- pai-re. 


17. i^r^Tic/^ 


- pe-re, pa-pa. 


18. Flemish - 


- pe-ar. 


19. OldRhetian - 


- pa-pa. 


20. Kyriaks (Syria) 


- pd-pe. 


21. Twrte/i 


- pe-pe, ba-sha, ba-ba, 


22. Tato 


- ba-ba. 


23. 8k7a7i (^/r/(!a) 


- ba-ba. 


24. Leodic {Sttjria) 


- pe-er. 


25. Lithuanian - 


- pa-ts. 



THE WORD • 


• BEE." 


26. Slavonic (Hellenic) 


ba-t. 


27. Gujardti 


ba-p. 


28. Grisons - - - 


ba-b. 


29. Frioul 


pa-ri. 


30. Frisian - - - 


pa-p, beine. 


31. Ga^Zic 


pa-erintbele. 


32. Wallachian - - 


pa-renthie, tatul, 


33. Javanese 


pa-man, tama. 


34. Tranquehar - - 


pi-tave. 


35. Malabar 


pi-tawe. 


36. Thibetan - - - 


pa, jba-phu. 


37. Tonquin 


phu. 


38. Siamese - - - 


poo. 


39. Japanese 


fi-to [a man]. 


40. Chinese - - - 


fu. 


41. Frisian d'Hin, 


fe-er. 


42. Go^/u'c - - - 


fa-dar, a-tta. 


43. Anglo-Saxon 


fa-^er, va-tter. 


44. English - - - 


fa-ther. 


45. Fr£;;ic/i T/i^o^. 


fa-der. 


46. 2t?^/izc - - - 


fa-dder. 


47. Sicedish 


fa-der. 


48. Danish - - - 


fa-der. 


49. Icelandic 


fa-der. 


60. Orkney Islands 


fa-vor. 


51. Scotch 


fa-der, na-thairn. 


52. German - - - 


va-ter, vadcr. 


53. Z)?(^c/i 


va-der, va-yer. 


54. Norwegian - - 


va-der. 


55. IValcheren 


va-yer. 



193 



194 



LINGUISTIC OEIGINES. 



56. Swiss - - - 


vee-r. 


57. Manx 


a-yr. 


58. Armenian - - 


ha-yr. 


59. Polish 


o-yere, o-cziecz. 


60. Lusatian (Saxony) 


vee-r, yo-shi. 


61. Vandals 


vo-slie, wo-tz, wo-schzi. 


62. Slavonic (Boliem.) 


o-tsche. 


63. Muscovian - 


o-tsche. 


64. Krim Tatanj - - 


a-tscha. 


Q^. Bohemian 


e-ttse, o-tez. 


QQ. Russian - - - 


o-tetsu, pa-pa. 


67. Anc, Slave - 


o-titsi. 


68. Servian - - - 


0-tse. 


69. Dalmatian - 


0-tse. 


70. Croatian - - 


0-tse. 


71. Illyrian 


o-taz. 


72. Bulgarian - - 


o-tskve. 


73. Carniola 


o-tze. 


74. Copfzc {modern) - 


jo-t. 


75. Esthonian - 


i-ssa (cf. Boliem. ^^Z^^.) 


76 Finnish - - - 


i-sa. 


77. Lappish 


i-sa. 


78. Canada (Indians) 


ou-tx, ai-stan. 


79. AlgonUn(NeioEng.) 


o-she, nou-sce (comp. 




Yandal voshe). 


80. Virginia (Indians) 


a-oosh. 


81. Chippeway - 


o-sah. 


82. Poteivotami - - 


o-sali. 


83. Shanmee 


och-sa. 


84. Miami - - - 


ox-sahe, okhsakh. 



THE WORD "bee.*' 195 

85. Pian {Illinois) - os-sah. 

86. Manticohe - - os-sac, oschsch. 

87. Massachusetts - osh. 

88. Ottaiva - - oss. 

89. Micmacs - - ouch. 

90. Lennap - - och. 

91. Delaware - - ook. 

From the Chinese /w, Tonquin jj/m^, and Siamese 
|)oo, we are led to the following series : — 

92. Ahom - - - po. 

93. Khamti - - po. 

94. Laos - - - po. 

95. Mikir (Bengal) - po. 

96. White Khar en - pa. 

97. KuU (Bengal) - pa. 

98. Mru (Bengal) - pa. 

99. Kami - - pa-ei. 

100. Khijeng or Shou pau. 

101. Red Kliaren - phay. 

102. Manipuri - - ipa. 

103. Ho (Bengal Pres,) apu. 

104. Konva - - apu. 

105. An garni Ndga - apu. 

106. Arung Ndga - apeo. 

107. Mithan Ndga - apa. 

108. Tahlung Ndga - opah. 

109. Murmi (Bengal) apa. 

110. I»or/o or Kachari apha. 

111. Burmese - - a-pa, pha-e. 

112. Madagascar - - amp-roy. 

o 2 



196 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



113. Kumi (Bengal) - 


amp-o. 


114. Hottentot - 


amb-up, ho. 


115. Limhu (Bengal) 


amba. 


116. Tiingusic - 


am-inmoen. 


117. Tulu - - - 


am-me. 


118. Tatar 


am-a, a-tcba 


119. Talain (Bengal) - 


ma. 


120. Rahhinical Heb. - 


an. 


121. Samaritan 


ab. 


122. If^5?w - - 


ab. 


123. Pehlei^i - 


ab, ab-ida. 


124. Syriac - - - 


ab-oh. 


125. Moresque - 


ab-bo. 


126. ^?•a^>^c - - - 


ab-a^ ab-u. 


127. Samoyed - 


ab-am. 


128. Chaldmm - - 


ab-ba. 


129. AmJiaric - 


a-ba. 


130. Barhary - - 


a-ba. 


131. AhyssiJiian 


ab-ba. 


132. Melindan(Zanz.) 


ab-a. 


133. Ethiopic - 


ab-i. 


134. ilf^c/i (Bengal) - 


appa. 


135. Ta7m7 


appa. 


136. jBwim - - - 


appa. 


137. Kharria (Bengal) 


appa. 


138. Mundari - - 


appu. 


139. T^Zw^zt 


abba. 


140. Zw?*! or Muasi - 


abba, ba. 


141. J?iA-a or Hrusso 


abba, au. 


142. Doj;/Ja (JS^/z^a/) 


abo. 





THE WORE 


I "bee." 


143. 


Dliimal (Bengal) 


aba. 


IM. 


Garo 


aja. 


145. 


Lepclia - - 


abo. 


146. 


Fuijmdhali Pahari 


abu. 


147. 


Kandh(Beng,Pres,] 


) abu, aba. 


148. 


Pani'Kocch - - 


awa. 


149. 


Kiranti 


ba. 


150, 


Santcll - - 


baba, apu. 


151. 


Juanga 


baba. 


152. 


Ahor (Bengal) - 


baba. 


153. 


Miri (Bengal) - 


baba. 


154. 


Oraon - - - 


baba. 


155. 


Gond 


baba. 


156. 


Ramgarh - - 


biiba. 



197 



Looking at such words as the Gothic fadar (No. 42.), 
which, by loss of the spiritus asper, becomes dtta, we 
may understand how such forms as the following are 
possible varieties of the same word : 



157. Gothic 


a-tta. 


158. Germ. Siuiss 


ae-tti. 


159. Huron (Canada) 


aih-taba. 


160. Biscayan - 


a-ta. 


161. Persian - - 


a-ta, i-ta. 


162. Cantahrian 


a-tta. 


163. Greek - - - 


d-rra. 


164. Epirote (Albany) 


a-tti. 


165. Latin 


a-tta. 


166. Welsh - - - 


a-thair, tad. 


167. Irish 


na-thair, ai-te, oi-de. 


168. Htuigarian - - 


a-tyank. 



198 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

169. Kalmuck - - a-tey. 

170. Ossetian - - a-da. 

171. Siberian - -^ a-tai. 

172. Egyptian Hierog, a-t^w. 

173. Frisian (Germ,) - hei-ta. 

174. Do, (Holland)' hei-ta. 

175. Do, (common) - hei-te. 

176. Vaudois - - ha-rme. 

177. Carib - - - ha-ba. 

178. Tangut (Thibet) ha-pa. 

179. Khasi (Bengal) - ky-pa. 

180. Chutia - - tsi-pa. 

181. Greenland (North) u-bia, uttata. 

The Turanian forms appa and abba, which are 
clearly the representatives of pa, pu, fu, readily suggest 
how, through some such change as produced the Gond 
baba, might have arisen the Khari !N"aga tabd ; the 
analogue of the Livonian tabes, the Cornish taz, 
Breton tad, Esthonian taat, and the whole of the series 
given below : — 

182. Khari Nag a - ta-ba. 

183. Livonian - - ta-bes. 

184. Werulic (Germ,) ta-bes. 

185. Prussian - - the-wes. 

186. Courlandish - te-we, te-ws. 

187. Breton - - taa-d, ta-d. 

188. German Jews - tha-daer. 

189. CambrO'Breton - ta-d. 



199 



190. Canarese - 


- 


tan-de. 


191. Breton (Armoric) 


ta-d. 


192. Cor7iish - 


- 


ta-z. 


193. Angolan (Africa) 


to-t. 


194. Giiaranees (Brazil) 


tu-ba, ru-ba 


195. Mexican - 


- 


ta-tli. 


196. Vilela - 


- 


ta-te. 


197. Moxa 


- 


ta-ta. 


198. Sapihocona - 


- 


ta-ta. 


199. Nose-pierced tribe 


to-ta. 


200. ^/ic. German 


- 


to-to. 


201. Frman - 


- 


to-te. 


202. Lithuanian - 


- 


te-tis. 


203. Albanian - 


- 


td-te. 


204. Karelian 


- 


ta-to. 


205. Mordvinian 


- 


ta-tai. 


206. Esthonian 


. 


taa-t. 


207. Po/zs/i - 


- 


ta-tus'. 


208. Russian 


- 


tia-tia. 


209. Ers^ 


- 


tai-didh. 


210. Jm/i - 


- 


dai-d. 


211. Ossetian - 


- 


da-da. 


212. Laghmani (Afgli.) 


ta-tiya. 


213. G?'^^/b 


- 


Te-rra. 


214. Lrt^m - 


- 


ta-ta. 


215. Bohemian - 


- 


ta-ta. 


216. Servian 


- 


ta-ta. 


217. T^d/z/ya/i - 


- 


ta-t. 


218. J/i7u// - 


- 


ta-t. 


219. Sanskrit - 


_ 


ta-ta. 



200 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

The onomatopic base of all the foregoing different 
forms of pi^ is to be found in the noise produced by 
the in-sucking of the lips, naturally accompanied by 
a sound like that represented by the letter p^ preceded 
by a vocalizing element. We, therefore, describe it 
as •/), placing a dot in front. 



CONCLUSION. 

Onomatops are the natural and inevitable expression 
of the conscious Soul, prompted by the secret impulses 
of life and motion. The onomatop places before the 
philosophical mind the first springs of human civiliza- 
tion and advancement, the first humanizing influence, 
— that which first marked the divergence of man and 
brute. ^' Man speaks^ and no other animal has uttered 
a word.'^ — Max Miiller, Speech is the surprizing 
accomplishment that gives to man his pre-eminence, 
gives him the power to clothe his thoughts in form, — 
almost in substance/ — it is even more correct to say 
that it gives to man the very power of thought itself. 
Philosophers, at times, go widely astray in their de- 
ductions by gliding imperceptibly over primary con- 
siderations, and by plunging at the very first into the 
more recondite parts of a subject. This is the case 
with what is called Mental Philosophy. It has never 
yet been perceived that the mental phenomena with 
which we are familiar can have no existence without 



* '* Words are living powers, are the vesture, yea, even the body, 
which thoughts weave for themselves." — Trench, The ^ludy of 
Words, 4th ed., p. 2. 



202 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

Language.* Can we even imagine a being thinking 
out one thought to a conclusion without the use of 
words^ either pictured to the mind or uttered with the 
voice ? This is a matter of experience. Immediately 
we begin to think a stream of words passes through 
the mind and presents the idea in varying forms, until 
it assumes the shape we finally approve, and then we 
give it utterance in audible language. Mental opera- 
tions, before the formation of articulate speech, must 
have been confined to mere sensation, such as the lower 
creation universally manifests. Locke considered man 
distinguished from the brute by the possession of 
general ideas ; and that great thinker did not fail to see 
that Language plays an important part in the build- 
ing up and development of our ideas ; but the real 
part that Language plays^ and the extent to which it 
operates in the whole of our conceptions, he could 
never accurately determine. Home Tooke was able to 
see that what Locke called general ideas were in reality 
but general terms. This astute writer remarks that it 
is an easy thing '^ upon Locke's own principles, and a 
physical consideration of the senses and mind, to prove 
the impossibility of the composition of ideas ;" ^ that 
is, that comprehensive ideas could not exist in the 
mind until a term or vocable existed, enabling the 

^ " We cannot reason without words/' — Bunsen, Cliristianity 
and Manhind, vol. iv. p. 127. The same author, xery inconsist- 
ently, in the preceding page speaks of language as " the product 
of reason." 

^Diversions of Purley, vol. i. p. 38. 



MAN SPOKE BEFORE HE REASONED. 203 

mind to project it, so to speak, upon the retina of its 
apprehension. Onomatops are, indeed, the analogues 
in speech, of those projections imagined by great archi- 
tects in the active moments of their genius. Our 
reasoning, indeed^ leads to the conclusion that connected 
thought of any kind is impossible without words, with 
which alone it can be carried on. This being so, all 
mental philosophy resolves itself into the history of 
language, — the first onomatop was parent to the first 
thought, and the parent of all that has resulted from 
man's mental power. Home Tooke thus clearly ex- 
presses himself: " The business of the mind, as far as 
regards language, appears to me to be very simple. 
It extends no farther than to receive impressions, that 
is, to have sensations or feelings. What are called its 
operations, are really the operations of language.''^ * 
As we have already said, in our opinion, any connected 
thought is impossible without language, and therefore 
Eeason itself is the offspring of the Word. Man 
SPOKE BEFORE HE REASONED. Emotional souud was 
first stamped with unvarying sense at a time when the 
man-animal was instigated by no other sentiments 
than those of animal desire and animal aversion. The 
gregarious impulse so conspicuous in man created the 
need for this unvarying sense, and the habit of living 
and acting in communities increased the number and 
definitencss of uttered sounds, as the necessity for 
communicating impressions enlarged. A long period 

"Diversions of Purley, vol. i. p. 51. 



204 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

must have elapsed before sounds settled by usage into 
fixed signs of ideas, and the merely animal state must 
have been, during the interim, considerably departed 
from by the humanizing tendencies of the speaking 
creature. Nevertheless this rudimentary stage, in 
which a few sounds possessed the force of true vocables, 
was far too imperfect to allow of the expression, 
and therefore of the conception, of anything beyond 
sensuous impressions. It was phraseological colloca- 
tion of vocables, first, probably, resulting from a neces- 
sity for discriminating similar but not identical objects, 
that gave birth to what is now called the Eeasoning 
faculty. The desire to discriminate would impel the 
creature to utter two vocables each expressive of some 
characteristic, the union of which two vocables, pro- 
ducing a third and compound word (as in the modern 
sea-horse, dog-Jlsh), — would be the germ of the art of 
Eeasoning, that is, the combination of simple proposi- 
tions. This theory is not inconsistent with itself ; 
for no higher process than perception is involved in so 
compounding words. The speaking creature looks at 
an object in the water, — " it is dog," is the impres- 
sion ; but still looking on it is seen not to walk like 
the other beings generally so called, but moves like a 
fish. '' It is fish," now the creature perceives ; and to 
communicate the impression he repeats the names of 
the tAvo creatures whose ideas have been aroused at 
sight of the strange object.^ The development of this 

* See tlie remarks ol' Dr. Dan. "Wilson, quoted p. 46. 



COMPLEX IDEAS. 205 

process brought about the categorical arrangement of 
words in a sentence, and with that the power of rea- 
soning, and all the mental operations of which we are 
now so proud. For further illustrations of this process 
the reader is referred to the Introduction, under the 
Laws of Combination, p. 21 et seq. 

How much, then, of human interest centres in our 
present inquiry ! We seek that which gave to man 
the power to construct telegraph, railway, and palace, 
the power to dig the mine, to navigate the deep, to 
scan the starry heavens, and to meditate on and to 
subdue the powers of nature to his use. It is the use 
of articulate sounds that made man master of the 
tempest and the sea, master of the lightning, and of 
the magnetic and invisible electric powers, master of 
the etherial regions, and of all comprised in the 
material world. All the achievements of man are 
based upon the communication of ideas, by means of 
which succeeding generations amplify and perfect the 
works of their predecessors ; and all communication 
of ideas is impossible without the Xoyo?, which both 
Greek and Hindu so justly reverenced. 

Bi^t as all animate creation emits sound, how shall 
we discriminate the human sounds so pregnant with 
gcrminative power, from the sounds of the horse, the 
dog, the elephant, &c.? This presents at once the 
highest problem in linguistic science, and in a few 
words we boldly state that there is no natural and 
intrinsic difference between the sounds of the brute 
and the words of the man^ — the difference is one 



206 LINGUISTIC 0EIGINE8. 

merely of application. The human mind^ is what 
botanists would call a "sport'' in animal creation, 
bringing with it the sense of dissatisfaction or dis- 
content. The lower creation are content in their 
operations, and are free from a restless impulse to 
change ; man alone is for ever discontented, and is 
for ever striving to improve or change his condition. 
At first a mere mental idiosyncrasy fostered by 
the material (or physical) advantages it procured, 
and developed by succeeding courses of descend- 
ants, each of which by employment of the faculty 
would exaggerate it by the common laws of nou- 
rishment and growth, — as the blacksmith's arm, 
the dancer's leg, and the philosopher's brain are 
exaggerated by the hypertrophy arising from constant 
use. Man was first differentiated from the brute by 
a peculiar, and, may be, accidental^ modification of 
cerebral matter, which under favourable circumstances 
succeeded in establishing itself as a permanent con- 
dition of being. It is from this peculiarity, which at 
first need have been but little above sensation, that 
man, emerging from his primal animal character, 
would feel the advantage of association, and asso- 
ciation would of itself occasion the natural sounds 
he uttered in common with the brute, to be utilized 
as a means of arresting the attention, or calling to, 
or urging on associates, these actions being prompted 
by the acquired desire for change. It is generally 

' The word " accidental " is here employed in the sense in which 
it may be said of an unusual or monstrous vegetable growth. 



LANGUAGE UNSTABLE. 207 

admitted, that all arts and sciences had their origin 
in the pressing wants of barbarous society ; and it is 
easy to see that language also is only an *^ accomplish- 
ment " — (it is never inherited, but always personally 
acquired) — which was gradually brought to the state 
in which we find it. It is not peculiar in its liability 
to change; for the whole realm of nature and of art 
continually progresses. The animals and plants of 
to-day are not the same as those of the geological 
epochs, — the men of to-day are not the men of only 
2000 years ago, — not only are they changed in lan- 
guage, but in habits, dress, food, and general appear- 
ance. " The analogy," says Bunsen,^ " of the deve- 
lopment which proceeds from inorganic to organic 
life, and in organic life from unconsciousness to con- 
sciousness and individuality, with the development of 
mind, as demonstrably exhibited in the progress of 
language, that is to say, in the history of the deposit 
of mind, is very striking." That great scholar then 
divides language into a primitive and inorganic or 
crystalline formation, every word having the power 
of totality in it, being neither noun, verb, nor attri- 
bute ; a secondary or vegetable formation, in which 
words exhibit a power of change according to genera 
and species ; and he shows that '' finally, the words of 
the spirit, denoting the relation of one thought and 
sentence to another, are developed, and give expression 
to the agency of the mind upon itself." Professor 

•'* '' Christianity and Mankind," vol. iv. p. 134. 



208 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

Pott held it to be conceivable tbat the developed 
and artificial languages were preceded by a state of 
the greatest simplicity and entire absence of inflexions ; 
and Professor Max Miiller adds that " it is absolutely 
impossible that it should have been otherwise." * The 
simple uninflected sounds are the primordial onomatops 
which man first interchanged with his fellow man, as 
a means of communicating his sensations. How long 
such a process was continued before the animal ejacu- 
lations were consolidated by habit into conventional 
vocal telegraphy it is impossible to say ; but thus 
much is clear that the first sound uttered for the 
purpose of communicating perception or desire, as 
differing from mere animal sensation, was the first 
"Word — the basis of man's pre-eminence — the perennial 
spring of sublime thought — nay, the very life of 
thought itself — the mighty and soul-giving Xoyos ! 

* Science of Language, Part I., p. 260. 



^PFEISTDIX. 



The Languages of Dardistan, and their bearing 
on the present inquiry. 



No account of language can now pretend to scientific 
completeness which fails to notice, and neglects to 
incorporate the results of the discoveries of Dr. Leitner 
into the dialects of Dardistan, Kashmir, Little Thibet, 
Ladak, Zanskar, &c. That eminent linguist has 
laboured earnestly and enthusiastically, — enduring 
privations^ undergoing fatigue, hunger, exposure, — 
and has risked life itself by wandering among hordes 
of semi-savages in order that he might contribute 
sound and perfectly reliable material to philological 
science. 

The scene of Dr. Leitner's labours is one of the 
greatest interest, for all history and tradition point 
consentiently to that district as the original home 
of the Aryan race, if not the very birth-place of the 
human kind. The result of Dr. Leitner^s researches 
strikingly confirms the traditions of antiquity in this 

p 



210 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

respect; — it is scarcely too much to say that the 
facts which that excellent scholar has brought to light 
are of themselves sufficient to establish the Central 
Asian origin of the Sanskritic family of languages 
even had not a single tradition of the circumstance 
lived to our days. Dr. Leitner says, and he has 
excellent grounds for so saying, " it is my impression 
from an inquiry into Dardu verbal and other forms 
that these languages are the dialects from which the 
Sanskrit was perfected." The extreme importance 
and engrossing interest of Dr. Leitner's discoveries 
will be readily admitted if there be only prima facie 
grounds for such a conclusion ; but, as will be seen 
further on, the Dardu dialects possess an inherent 
interest apart from this consideration. 

We have reserved what we have to say on this 
matter for a separate heading, because the discovery 
of the languages of Dardistan is altogether too recent 
an event to lead us to expect that incidental references 
to the dialects of that district would be readily appre- 
hended by our readers. We take it that words cited 
from the Shina, Arnyia, Khajuna, Kalasha-Mander, &c., 
without further explanation, would convey but little 
meaning to the minds of even well-informed philolo- 
gists. We therefore propose to say a few words here 
that will tend to show how admirably the languages 
Dr. Leitner has brought to light support and illustrate 
the conclusions to which we have already arrived. 

But first let us fix these languages in space. The 
district occupied by the Dardu races is close to the 



LANGUAGES OF DARDISTAN. 211 

spot to which legend and history alike point as the 
very cradle of the human race, — a phrase which 
means, if we may venture to translate the language 
of mythology into the language of philosophy, that 
the spirit of enterprize and of unsatisfied desire which 
has spread civilization over so large a portion of the 
earth, had its rise among the people who, in extremely 
antique times, occupied the spot which is now known 
as Dardistan. This small triangle of land at the 
extreme north of Afighanistan, with Badakshan on 
the one side and Kashmir on the other, from its 
inaccessible and remote position, was far out of reach 
of the general current of history, and its inhabitants 
may fairly be supposed to have there lived on un- 
affected by the progress of their congeners, and even 
unknown to all but the wild tribes of Tatary and 
Turkistan. 

Having thus indicated the position of these Dards 
upon the map, we will now, before proceeding to 
fortify our former statements with the help of their 
languages, bring forward a few facts calculated to 
establish the true position of these dialects in the 
complex of human speech. There can be no doubt 
that the Dardu races are members of the Aryan 
family, — the vocabulary and grammar both proclaim 
it ; and when we reflect on the isolated position of the 
Dardu tribes and their unsophisticated manner of 
living, which there is every reason to believe has 
been unaffected by the whirlwind of changes that has 
again and again swept over more accessible portions 

v2 



212 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

of the earth, we shall then see that the languages 
of these primitive tribes furnish material of the first 
importance as regards the inquiry upon which we are 
now engaged. In support of these assertions we will 
compare some Dardu words with their equivalents 
in Sanskrit, Hindi, &c., which will, we think, make 
manifest the interesting nature of Dr. Leitner's 
labours. We shall first give the ordinary numerals. 



LANGUAGES OF DARDISTAN. 



213 



5z; 



02 ^ro m rd "CC 

C3 TO ^ 03 ^ 

TS '^ 'w n3 ni 



r^ T^ •T^ 






W 















<c3 



rd ^ 

<C^ <Cl3 rd 



C3 



rd 
GQ 



-J:^ ->j -M 

'B -^ 'B 

ro CQ OQ 

C3 c3 O 



52; 
eg 



M 

M 

GQ 



•4^ 


<4^ 


<4^ 


^ 


<C^ 


<ce 


<C« 


02 


02 


02 


1" 


t 


-d 


rd 


rd 


rd 


^ (~l 


rC 


o 


^ 


o 


QQ 






rS d 



^o3 



n:3 






QQ 



o 

rd 
02 



P^ 



-s -s I .^ I 

d d y d Q 
a, p., P^ Ph P< 



pd ^ "*^ 

o ^o O 'O 

pL, P< P^ Ph 



p 

o 
Ph 



.r^ ^ "=5^ 

J. 'c <i^ rd 

<S <S S S n 

,d rd "^ "^ '^ 



03 



o 



^ ^ 9 

03 03 ^c;3 

pd rd rd 

02 02 O 

S-J ^-a -4-J 



•O 






d 

<r-« 



rd .rH 



ND rd '^ 

M {fl Jh 



I* 



o 



^ 



d 



rQ 



-d 



I 



O 



d 



-d 
n3 



-d 






o 



ri*1 



ri<1 C8 

^ rM 



P>> P>> rM 



2?* 






.« 

r- 

;i5 






K 

c? 



p 

p 






;:) 









214 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

It is clear from an examination of this list that the 
Dardu languages can in no respect be considered as 
derived from the spoken languages of the north of 
India, as many of the forms are obviously more primi- 
tive than those now current in Hindustan. By the 
word " primitive" we do not mean simply more like 
the Sanskrit prototype, because we are fully persuaded 
that the Sanskrit itself is a derivative, or, more properly, 
a scholarly elaboration of some barbarous tongue, the 
living form of which may yet be discovered, if, indeed, 
the languages we are now treating of be not the very 
same. Our use of the word ^' primitive " implies that 
the Indian forms of words are phonetic corruptions of 
more complex forms which are found in Sanskrit and 
also in Dardu ; and therefore the latter could not be 
derived from the Hindi, &c., on the common sense 
principle that a word having become corrupt, cannot, 
by further corruption, approach nearer to the form 
whence it started. Hence it follows that the Ghil- 
ghiti dtsh, the Astori ashi, the Kalasha asht, and the 
Arnyia osht, approaching closely to the Sanskrit ashtan^ 
represent a phase of language decidedly more antique 
than the Hindi and Gujarati dth, &c. Similar reason- 
ing applies to the Ghilghiti tre, the Kalasha tre, 
and the Arnyia troy^ which, by retaining the letter 
r found in the Sanskrit tri^ prove incontestably that 
they could not have been derived from the Hindi 
and Urdu tin^ or the Bengali tin, or from any other 
dialect in which that letter had once been elided. 
Even the Gujarati tar an, although retaining the r, 



LANGUAGES OF DARDISTAN. 215 

is obviously no channel by which tri could become 
fre. In Arnyia, as a remarkable fact, we meet with 
the letter i only as the exponent of unity, which 
our previous inquiry (p. 184) led us to announce 
as the ultimate base of all the many diverse words 
found upon the earth with that meaning. We have 
now a distinctly Aryan language preserving, or pre- 
senting, a form the onomatopic simplicity of which 
rivals the Chinese. 

But it may not unfairly be said that the digits form 
but a slender foundation on which to establish the 
independent character of a whole cluster of languages. 
To show that all parts of the Dardu languages present 
features of a more primitive nature than do the ver- 
naculars of Hindustan, we will cite other examples of 
nouns, adjectives, and verbs. And, first, we will com- 
pare the substantive verb as follows : — 



216 



LINGUISTIC ORiaiNES. 












OQ 








• 















•f>S 






^ 








&1 






_3 




















^ 




•^ 






^3 


a 





S 


fee 


,^ 


r^ 


r^ 


^ 


,r 


rC 






















^ 


rd 


^5 


r^ 


r^ 


-55 


^ 


<^ 


<§ 




<% 







<§ 




• 


• 


1 


• 


1 
1 


•^ 


■ 


• 


•^'^ 


• 


1 


rS 








-J-i 















03 




03 


§ 




]£ 






03 
-3 








^ 






s 






5S 


S 






c3 






^ 


•r-i 

B 


■3 


1 


03"^ 


"i 


1 


g 














S 


i 






B 


'T^ 




03 


<p— 1 




<H-4 


O-H 


03 


-^ 


-+J 


"^ 


.4^ 


-4-^ 


-4-d 


*i?^ 


02 


02 


^ 


Xil 


CO 


m 


^ 


c3 


03 


03 


^ 


o3 


c3 


^ 


ra 


M 


rd 


■^ 


A 


•to 














T 

-^ 


1 


•^ 


■t 




03 


1 


« 


o3 


03 


03 


02 


m 


jn 


cq 














t 


a 


m 


^ 


CO 


• 1— 1 

a 


*P 


•ej*^ 


/?i 


/^ 


-^ 


-^ 


-;:i 


r- 


DO 


c« 


m 


CO 


CO 


02 


5.^ 


03 


03 


03 


03 


<^ 


c3 


^ 















03 S ?;H 03 

S ^ ^^ O !^ <1> 

•^ =!=3 hS tl- w*=* -^ 

H K {> >H H 



1> § J 3 g 



00 



^ o ^ i I 
-^ -^ -«^ ^ 



o © S d 



© 03 



02 .;^ ^ 



^ § a i '2 

o ^-i © A 

b I ^ ^ ^ 

® 3 § ^ S 

P, !=i CO ^ O 

^ -^J t:3 <| •i=l 

^ 2 © rS 2 

© I« .j:- .^ 03"^ 03 .^ S P "^ ^ 



> 



rd 










• I— I 



i 



LANGUAGES OF DARDISTAN. 217 



02 -g 






§ i .a "i 



•^ 






g 


di.^ .^ 


Pli d> fl 


•<^ 


•i-H 'f-^ 'F^ 


tq 


rd rd ^ 


^ CT TO 
^ p^ r^ 



'^ ^ ^ ^ -.. 



60 ,- d 



:§ . 2 r :; -3 

o a> o c3 i?^ 



e - C3 



d 



o ^3 ^ ^.^ o 
5S ^ 5 ^ ^ d 

e ^ r ^ .g -3 



d 



QQ ftl 3 



d ^r^dB, ^ 2 ^ > > t>>.{> 

rd ^-^^^S ^ >^^pdrd rl^rdpd 

^ .gv-^^ III ^ ^^^ ^^^ 

§ «2 fy d v^ p 

I -^ .3 ^ :e a :^ S ^2 I 



t«i :g, s -s ^ a a 



a g" 


3 are 
u are 
ey are 


03 Jd <l^ 
H^ H W 


^tSg 



218 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

Here again we find the full consonant remaining in 
a Dardu language when it has been softened to the 
letter h in Prakrit and the modern languages of India 
(cf. Mahratti honen, " to be''). 

We will now give two tenses from two verbs in the 
Kalasha dialect which will satisfactorily establish the 
close accordance of the conjugational system of the 
Dardu languages with that of the Sanskrit. The verbs 
we select are tshishtik, " to stand," and juk^ " to eat." 
The ik or uk in these words is the sign of the infini- 
tive, leaving tshisht and j as the respective bases : of 
these tshisht is clearly the same as the Sanskrit tishth, 
the base of what are called the '^ conjugational" tenses 
of the verb sthd, " to stand" ; and they is the Sanskrit 
ad, English eat, the d passing into dj\ and then into 
y, as Deva becomes Jovis (p. 163). 

Kalasha, Sanskrit. 

I stand a tshishtim tishthami 

Thou standest tu tshishti tishthasi 

He stands se tshishteu tishthati 

We stand abi tshishtik tishthamas 

You stand tuaste tshishta tishthatha 

They stand eledriis^ tshishten tishthanti 



a This word brings to mind the Turkish aniar, " they." If 
it be the same word it offers a notable instance of mixed 
Grammar. 



LANGUAGES OF DARDISTAN. 219 

Kaldsha, Sanskrit, 



I eat 

Thou eatest 
He eats 

We eat 
You eat 
They eat 



a jum 
tu jus 
se jui. 

abi juk 
tuaste jua 
eledriis jiin 



admi 

atsi [ad + si] 

atti [ad + ti] 

admas 

attha [ad + tha] 

adanti 



There is much phonetic corruption apparent in the 
above tenses, still the similarity of principle in the two 
languages is apparent. The past tenses are even more 
remarkable, because they preserve the initial augment 
of Sanskrit, which has completely passed away from 
modern India. The base j now becomes sh by a 
phonetic change, such as ja = cha -= sha. 



I stood 

Thou stood'st. 
He stood 



Kaldsha, 

a a-tshishtis 
tu a-tshishti 
se a-tshishteu 



Sanskrit. 

a-tishtham 

a-tishthas 

a-tishthat 



We stood 
You stood 
They stood. 



abi a-tshishtimi 
tuaste a-tshishtili 
eledriis a-tshishtani 



a-tishthama 

a-tishthata 

a-tishthan 



I ate a-shis [ ? a + ashis] adam [a + adam] 

Thou atest tu a-shi adas [a -h adas] 

He ate so a-shu adat [a + adat] 



220 LINaUISTIC ORIGINES. 





Kaldsha, 


Sanskrit 


We ate 


abi a-shimi 


adam [a + adam] 


You ate 


tuaste a-sMli 


atta [a + ad + ta] 


They ate 


eledrus a-shin 


Man [a + adan] 



It is most interesting to find this antique method 
of forming a past tense still surviving among an Aryan 
people of Central Asia. 

Among nouns, &c., presenting forms decidedly more 
antique than those now current in Hindustan we 
select the following examples. The Sanskrit is placed 
first, next the Dardu forms, and finally the Pali, Hindi, 
and other Indian forms. 

A "fish," is called in Sanskrit matsya^ in Arnyia 
and KaMsha matzi^ — in Pali machchho, in Hindi, 
machhliy mdhi^ mm, 

A " hand," is in Sanskrit hasta, in Arnyid hdst^ — 
in Pali hattho^ in Hindi hdth^ in Mahratti hat. 

The " head " is in Sanskrit siras^ in Zend sirsha^ — 
in Ghilghiti shish^ Astori and Kaldsha shish^ — Hindi 
5^>, Persian sar, 

" Lightning," Sans, vidyut^ Ghilghiti bitshus, — 
Pali vijjumd, Prakrit vijju, vijjuli, Hindi bijlt^ 
Mahr. bij. 

A "fly," Sans, makshikd, Ghilghiti matshi, Ka- 
Msha mangajik, — Pali makkhikdy Prakrit machchhid, 
Hindi makkhi. 

A " bone," Sans, asthi^ Ghilghiti ati^ Kalasha ati^ — 
Pali and Prakrit atthij Hindi haddi. 



LANGUAGES OF DARDISTAN. 221 

The " eye," Sans, akshi, Ghilghiti atchi, Kaldsha 
^tch^ — Pali achchhi or akkhi^ Hindi dnkh. 

The " sun/' Sans, surya^ Ghilghiti suri, Kalasha 
sur% — Prakrit sujjo or suro, Hindi suraj. 

The "lip/' Sans, oshtra, KaMsha usht, Ghilghiti 
onti, — Bengali oshth, Hindi onth, 

A " crow," Sans. hdJca, Khajund hdko, — Pali Jcdlco, 
Hindi Icdg, 

A "brother," Sans, bhrdtri, Arnyia hirar, — Pali 
bhdtiko^ Hindi, bhd-i. 

A " daughter," Sans, duhitri, Arnyia djurr, Ghil- 
ghiti dihhj — Persian duMtar, Pali dhttd, Prakrit 
dhi-dy Hindi dhiyd^ dhi, dhiriyd. 

A "bear," Sans, riksha, Ghilghiti itch, Kaldsha 
UZj — Prakrit richchho, Hindi richh, 

" To-day," Sans, adya^ Ghilghiti dtshu^ Astori ash^ 
Kaldsha ondja, — Pali ajja, Hindi and Mahratti dj. 

" Large," Sans, vriddha, Astori baddo, — Prakrit 
vaddhako, Hindi bard, bar/id, 

" Small," Sans, kshudra, Khajund djott, — Pali 
chuddho, Hindi chhotd, 

" Middle," Sans, madhya, Ghilghiti majja, Amy id 
miijja, Kaldsha mosthe (? Sans, madhya + st/ia, mid- 
sta-tioned)^ — Pali and Prakrit majjho^ Hindi manjhld 
or manjhold, Mahratti mdj. 

"Behind," Sans, paschat, Kaldsha ^?Vi^, Ghilghiti 
pittUj Astori j^ato, — Persian pasin, Hindi pichhd. 

A careful examination of the al)ove words (which 
could easily be multiplied) will show that in every 



222 LINGUISTIC OEIGINES. 

case the Dardu words are more primitive and complex 
in their character than are the representatives of the 
Indian vernaculars with which they are contrasted. 
The Pali and Prakrit forms have hitherto been deemed 
the oldest forms derived from Sanskrit which we 
possess supplying a link between the language of the 
Vedas and the vernaculars now current in India. 
The labours of Dr. Leitner have now brought to our 
notice a whole family of spoken languages which 
approach much nearer to the Sanskrit than anything 
to be found in the Pali or the Prakrits. It is 
transparently clear that, if the Dardu languages be 
not themselves the ancient language from whence the 
Sanskrit, in common with the north Indian languages, 
were elaborated, they at least constitute phonetically 
an intermediate link between the Sanskrit on the one 
hand and the Pali on the other. Upon the latter 
ground only these Dardu languages are of the greatest 
interest both to philologists and ethnologists. 

A few words will now be given which possess, if 
possible, still greater interest than those already 
cited, because the Dardu words preserve forms closely 
akin to the old Sanskrit^ which seem to be entirely lost 
to modern India. A few of such are the following : — 

*•' Dog," Sans, swan^ Kalasha sheon, Ghilghiti shu. 
The Bengali equivalent of this is kukkur, Hindi 
kukar or kuttd^ from a corrupt Sanskrit word kukkura 
of kurkura. When the word swan is now used in India 
it is simply the old Sanskrit word artificially revived. 

'^ Earth," Sans, kshiti, Arnyia tshuti. 



LANGUAGES OF DARDISTAN. 223 

" Milk," Sans, kshira^ Arnyia tshirr^ Kalasha tshirr, 
Persian shir, 

" Small," Sans, sukshma, Ghilghiti tshuno, Astori 
tshuno, 

" Above," Sans, adhi, Ghilghiti adje, Adhi is still 
used as a preposition in India, but cannot be employed 
as a separate word. The Pali form, as a preposition, 
is ajjh-. 

There is one word in the Dardu languages that 
suggests a whole history in itself. The word used to 
express the right hand side is, in the Ghilghiti lan- 
guage, dachini. This word is the same as the Sans- 
krit dakshina, the Pali and Prakrit dakkhino^ the 
Hindi dakhin or ddhind. The remarkable fact is that 
in all the languages of India, the equivalents of dak- 
shina mean not only the right hand side, but also the 
south ; whereas, in the Ghilghiti language, this same 
word, while still expressing the right hand side, is 
used to distinguish the north. As we know that the 
right hand and south were considered identical, be- 
cause the progenitors of the Hindu people entered 
India from the west, and advancing westward with 
the rising sun to the front, they had necessarily the 
southern country on the right hand side ; so we might 
infer that the Dards entered the land they now occupy 
from the east^ having the north on the right hand 
side, the tradition of which still lives among them in 
this remarkable vocable. If further evidence should 
strengthen this assumption, it is not unreasonable to 



224 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

conjecture that the Dards in reality are the representa- 
tives of the primitive people from whom those we now 
call the Sanskrit-speaking races originally separated 
before penetrating the Hindukush, and before the 
Vedas were composed, or civilization itself had dawned. 
It is, furthermore, marvellous that one of these Dardu 
tribes still calls itself by the name " Arnyia," which 
differs only in its nasal twang from "Aryia" or 
'' Arya," the well-known name by which the Indo- 
Germanic peoples anciently distinguished themselves. 
If this ethnographical speculation prove correct, the 
Dardu languages would present us with a form of 
Aryan speech closely akin to, and possibly anterior in 
linguistic stratum than, the Sanskrit language itself ; 
and which assumed its present shape unaffected by 
anything that took place in India. Whether there be 
any real ground for these speculations or not, we have 
undoubtedly made it evident that these interesting 
dialects are purely Aryan in character, and present 
forms more antique than those of the vernaculars of 
Hindustan, and therefore could not have been derived 
from the latter, but must have had an independent 
history. 

Having thus established the relationship and primi- 
tive character of the Dardu languages, it will be 
evident that the circumstance that the Arnyia i is the 
equivalent of the Chinese 'i, and the Sanskrit elca, 
acquires a special significance. It tells us that these 
rude people who have, as we have seen, conserved 



LANGUAGES OF DARDISTAN. 225. 

many forms of an older stratum of language, have also 
in daily use as the exponent of unity the very simple 
articulation which our previous examination of modern 
dialects had led us to pronomice as the natural onoma- 
top to express it. It is no less remarkable that the 
same sound i is also used among Dardu people to 
express " motion to a place" ; — thus the Kalasha people 
say ai/a i for " come, mother" (ai/a = mother). This 
is precisely what we concluded would be the case 
among a primitive people ; and upon that onomatopic 
sound has been based the more developed form e, 
" come," in the Astori and Ghilghiti dialects, identical 
with the Latin e-o, and forming part of the series we 
have already given on p. 188, &c. We may thus 
claim to have tracked to its source the onomatop 
expressive of motion. The Dardu languages help us, 
also, to the onomatop upon which the ideas forth, for- 
vmrd, &c., were erected. This we have suggested 
(p. 182) is the mere puffing forward of the lips by the 
expulsion of air; but we adduced in evidence only 
such derivative forms as the Persian pufidan^ " to 
blow/' and the Sanskrit phiU, an imitative noise. The 
Dardu languages, however, present us with the ono- 
matop we are seeking in its simple purity ; thus, " to 
blow'* or ^^puff " is, in Ghilghiti phu toki, in Astori 
phu teono, in Arnyiii phu-istni (?), in Khajuna pJm- 
eti, and in Kahisha pJiu-she. The syllables toki^ &c., 
are the Dardu words for the word "do" or "make ;" 
so that the literal meaning is " make a p/iUy^ precisely 
in accordance with our previous statements. In the 

Q 



226 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES., 

Astori and Khajund dialects the word '' fire" is also 
expressed by the same sound, no doubt from the puff- 
ing, noisy sounds emitted from burning timber. 

The same sound phu or pu is found in words 
expressive of ^' expansion'^ in the languages of Dard- 
istan, just as is the case in India ; so that the Hindi 
phul, " a flower," is matched by the Ghilghiti phunerr, 
'* a flower," and the Astori pusho, '^ a flower." As 
in Sanskrit we find that ajruit, or that which expands 
out of the flower, represented by the sound phala^ so 
do we flnd in Ghilghiti the same idea expressed by 
phamul^ in Astori by phalamuly and in Khajuna by 
phamuL A particular kind of fruit, ^^an apple," is 
called in Ghilghiti j^Aa/a, and in Astori phalo. All these 
words are obviously connected with the Sanskrit phala 
and phalya^ and to the other words previously given 
under the word '^ Flower," that have a general sense of 
swelling, extension, or spreading out. The Dardu 
words for a ^' leaf," a spread out surface, as shown in 
the Ghilghiti patu, the Astori pattu^ and the Kalasha 
pron^ help us to further examples to add to those 
given on p. 176. To the Hindi forms there given we 
may add the words pdti^ palld^ parn, pannd^ pan, all 
of which mean *'leaf,'^ and show how constantly a 
^-at or in-^a-ted thing was expressed by some equiva- 
lent oi f'l or /)•/. 

Turning to another onomatop, the history of which 
we have sketched at p. 26 et seq., we find the Dardu 
languages express the throat and its operations by 



LANGUAGES OF DARDISTAN. 227 

a guttoal noise, which we represent by 'g' as an 
ultimate base. The verb "eat "is in Ghilghiti M«, 
and in Astori kha^ closely allied to the Hindi khd-nd 
and the Sanskrit base khdd. In the Introduction our 
object was merely to sketch the process of word- 
formation as revealed by our method of investigation. 
We made no attempt to trace the words there adduced 
through other than obvious channels ; so that it may 
be as well here to mention that oui' view of the 
guttural origin of words meaning "throat," &c., is 
not deduced solely from the few examples there 
adduced. The following Sanskrit bases, all of which 
mean "eat," "bite," are sufficient to show that we 
could say a great deal more on this subject: — With 
the g initial, gri, gur, gal^ gras, glas, ghas ; with 
the g hardened to ky and the final sibilant changed to 
a cerebral, krid^ kud, kad^ khed, khet ; the cerebral 
changing to a dental, klidd khad ; and softening the 
initial, hshad; the initial still further softened to a 
palatal (as in the Eng. chew, Germ, kdiien) gives us 
char, charv, chash, and the series cham, chham, jam, 
jimjjham, which are, obviously, only different intona- 
tions of one word. All these guttural exponents of 
the act of eating and swallowing suggest themselves 
as congeners of the Dardu form klia, and give rise 
to tribes of derivatives such as the Sanskrit khddana, 
"food," khddin, "biting," &c., &c., and also the base 
khand, " to bite," " to chew up," and afterwards, 
metaphorically, " to break," which then gave birth to 
the vocables khanda, " a piece," " portion " (literally 

' Q 2 



228 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

" a bite '^), and khandana, " destroying/' " breaking 
into bits." Possibly, also, the base kJian^ "to dig," 
or ^^ incise," with its derivatives khani^ *^ a mine/' 
Hindi Ma-^, ^* a ditch," &c., arises from the same 
guttural base, as the gnaw-m^ of food would not 
be inaptly represented by the gnawing or scratching 
into the ground in the very early days of engineering 
operations. Thus we here, by quite an independent 
process, arrive at the same conclusion as that given 
on p. 48, where we show that ypd^co^ ^^ to draw " or 
'^scratch," is a derivative of griy ^Ho eat;" and the 
change of meaning is not so great as that which turns 
the French gout^ Italian gusto, Latin gusius, into the 
English dis-gust. 

In support of our analysis of the word " Law," the 
Dardu languages offer us several words of much 
interest. The Arnyid, for instance^ offers Lit/mni for 
^Hhe tongue," like the Latin lingua (p. 143); and 
that which is smooth or -po-lish-ed is called, in 
Kalasha, i,ansht (Gr. Xeia, p. 144). The ^'morning," 
when everything brightens and shines, is called, in 
Ghilghiti, i^oshtdki^ and in Astori luoshte ; and the 
light of a candle is called in Kalasha Lutsh (see p. 152). 
The same transference of the qualities of the object 
to the subject, which we remarked upon at p. 146, 
seems to underlie the Arnyia Lole, " see, look," and 
the Ghilghiti i^ishij "spy." In the same way the 
alliance between that which is light or brilliant and 
that which is light or slight (see p. 13G), is shown by 



LANGUAGES OF DARDISTAN. 229 

the Ghilghiti 'Ldko and Arnyia -Lotz^ both meaning 
'' light," " not heavy f while the lax character of the 
base • / • (p. 132) is exemplified by the Ghilghiti word 
Judto, "low." 

The licking and smearing action of the tongue, 
giving expression to the ideas of "painting," &c. 
(see p. 144) is found in the Ghilghiti Lim/dr and 
Astori luiKKe, " to write " (Sans, likh) ; and I becoming 
r, as we have so frequently seen, accounts for the 
Ghilghiti ranyito and Astori ranyito, " colour," 
"paint" (Sans, ranj^ langJi), 

A long chapter might be written upon this form 
of the base */•, as the Dardu forms for a particular 
kind of colour, "red," are eminently suggestive. 
The name of this bright, light, and vivid colour 
is, in Ghilghiti Id'ilu^ in Astori lolo, and in Kalasha 
latshea^ — suggesting at once the Persian Idl^ and the 
Sanskrit lohita or rohita^ the last word having also 
the meanings " hi^ood,^^ " light-mng,^^ and " in-flam- 
mation." This word lohita is of itself sufiicient to 
show how words acquire new meanings with the 
growing necessities of mankind ; and it, furthermore, 
enables us to see the bond of union between itself 
and such other Sanskrit words as ixajas, " the bright 
sky," "Rajafj " white," Rajaka, " a washerman," one 
who brightens soiled garments; ^anja, "a colour;" 
nanj, "to bo attached," "dc-//^/^^ed," or " brightened" 
(p. 147); uanjana, "delighting," "colouring;" nan- 
jaka, "what stimulates pleasure;" witi^ "passion;" 
nama, "a lover;" ixomana, "delighting;" nasa, 



230 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

"taste/' "fo^?e," ^'lust^^^ what is /^^5-cious or lus- 
trous ; nasmi, ^^a rat/ of light '^ (Lat. i^aqueus); 
nukma, '^ clear," "bright," "gold;" noka, "light." 
Closely akin to these ideas, all of which are connected 
with that which is light, bright, vivid, and pleasing, 
are other words also arising from the idea of brighten- 
ing or the making bright, lustrous, or glowing ; such 
as the Sanskrit 'Rosha, " anger," from rush, "to be 
angry" (cf. rush, "to decorate," "paint"); noshana, 
"quicksilver"; nu or nud, "to be angry"; nuj\ 
" to burn/' " glow," "be in pain ; '' and noga, 
" disease/' All these ideas are fairly deducible from 
the rudch/ glow of anger, passion, or mental burning, 
and of that which is light or bright. If further 
evidence were needed it is supplied by the Sanskrit 
word lajjd, "shame," " bashfulness," from the base 
laj\ " to be ashamed,'' deduced from an older form laj\ 
"to shine," or ''fry," "stew," "burn." We need 
not pursue this matter any further. Any oriental 
scholar will perceive the whole vocabulary of deriva- 
tives that flow from these suggestive bases ; and that 
the argument we have sketched affords excellent 
evidence of the primal unity of raksh, " to rule," and 
lakshf " to shine " (p. 154). 

We will add a few more words from the interesting 
languages of Dardistan in illustration of other state- 
ments made in the text. The Ghilghiti md, Astori 
mu, Arnyia ma, KaMsha mdi, and Khajund mi, show 
that these languages recognize * m ' as a fitting 



LANGUAGES OF DARDISTAN. 231 

exponent of personality, ^^me, my'' (p. 35); and the 
Ghilghiti tii^ tus, the Astori tUj the Arnyia tit, and 
the Kalasha tdi, express that which is more remote 
from self by the consonant 't', 'Hhee, thou, that one" 
(see pp. 36, 165). Another letter may here be men- 
tioned as suggesting a history of its own, although 
not treated in the text. In Ghilghiti anu means 
^^this," dni means "here," and ami means "he (if 
near)." We find the letter 'n' with similar meanings 
in Astori and Khajuna ; and throughout the inflexion 
of Ghilghiti pronouns this letter n imparts a sense 
of nearness to every form of the base, which strongly 
reminds the inquirer of the Sanskrit nah, " to bind," 
the Latin ne-xus^ and all that is near^ nigh, and next 
in our own language. 

In support of our etymology of Jovem (p. 163), we 
find in Ghilghiti des, and Astori dies for " day," forms 
which more closely approach the Sanskrit divas than 
does the Hindi din. " Heaven " is, also^ in Kalasha di, 
like the Sanskrit div, dyu, and dyut. Finally the 
word ga, meaning "also," "beside," in Ghilghiti, is 
also added to words as the equivalent of the English 
"and," showing that such ideas as "beside," "be- 
yond," underlie the copula "and" (see p. 39), and 
not the notion of " equality/' " evenness," as suggested 
by Mr. AVedgwood. 

Another feature of much interest, to which we can 
here only allude, is the presence of pure onomatops in 
the languages of Dardistan, such as the verb phu-toki, 
"to make a phu,^^ "to blow," and ho-toki, "to make 



232 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

a ho^' "to call" (cf. the Sans. Az^e, "to call"). 
These are really the kind of sounds from which first 
language, and then languages, have been developed. 
The sound ho as the exponent of " noise " naturally 
x)ame to be the name of particular noise, so that, in 
Ghilghiti, this same sound ho is used for the noun 
"voice'' as well as for the verb "call.'' Possibly 
tshukk t6h% " to make tshuhh^^ " to be silent," ''hush/^ 
is of similar character. These pertinent facts are more 
conclusive as to the natural onomatopic origin of 
language, than any amount of abstract reasoning; 
and make the process by which words were formed 
patent to the sense. 

In conclusion we sincerely hope that Dr. Leitner 
will continue his researches into the unknown districts 
of Central Asia. He has already placed within the 
reach of scholars eleven languages which were, before 
his recent publications, either entirely unknown, or 
known only by name. The material which Dr. Leitner 
has already collected from the district of Dardistan, 
and which will ever reflect honour on his name, is, as 
we trust we have shown, of the greatest interest and 
value to Comparative Philology, and to the history 
of the human race. 



INDEX TO ONOMATOPS, 



[For references to the text in explanation of the examples her 
cited, see the Index Verborum.] 



G 



G=''throat." 



onomatop of throat, swallow, eat, bite, incise, seize, grasp, 
drag, draw^, engrave : — gal, " eat," Sans. 5 gula, gustus, Lat. ; 
giieule, Fr.; greedy, gorge, gnawing, disgust, Eng. 

G is aspirated : — ghas, " eat," Sans. 

G becomes K : — krid, kadj " eat," Sans. 

G becomes K aspirated: — kha, "eat," Astori; hha, '* eat," 
Ghilghiti ; hhad, '' eat," khaiid, " bite," Sans. 

G becomes CH: — chew, Eng.; char, chash, chain, *^ eat," 
Sans. 

G becomes J :—jam, jirn, jham, " eat," Sans. 

G in other senses : — grip, give, Eng. ; grah, " take," Sans. ; 
'ypa(p(o, Gr. ; scribere, Lat. ; ecrire, Fr.; scribble, describe, Eng. 

G ultimately lost : — write, Eng. ; hri, " take," Sans. 

I="here." 

I a definer of that which is proximate — self — unity— motion 
towards the speaker — motion in general:—/, '* one," Arnyia; 
'/, ''one," Chin.; /, Eng. ; i, "go," Sans.; iha, "here," Sans.; 
ibi, idem, Lat.; ici, Fr. When aspirated, hi! hi! Eng.; hay, 
" noi.se," Sans. 



234 LIKGUISTIC ORIGINES. 

I becomes E:—e," this," Beng. ; ei, "go," Eg. Hier. ; eka, 
" one," Sans. ; eo, Lat. 

I becomes Y :— ?/m, " I," Chinese ; yak, " one," Pars. ; yun 
" thus," yahdn, " here," Hindi. 

I changes to other vowels : — an, ace, Eng. ; un, Er. ; wet, 
" one," Kassia. 

E + I: — ri, "go," Sans.; river, Eng. 

y+E + I : — vri, "surround, choose," Sans, (vi, prep, "about," 
Sans.); vridh, "increase," Sans.; vrish, "rain," Sans. 
VEI becomes VAE : — varsha, " cloud," Sans. 
VRI becomes OE : — orhs, orbit, optare, ordia, Lat. 



L="lick." 

L onomatop of tongue, and the tongue^s operations, licking, 
smearing, shining, brightening, liking, attaching, binding: — lai, 
*^ tongue," Cochin-Chinese; lih, "lick," Sans.; lap, "speak," 
Sans. ; lu^db, "viscosity," Arab. ; lihh, " write," Sans.; lip, Eng. ; 
light, Eng. ; relish, Eng. ; leash, Eng. ; link, Eng. ; la, " law," 
Cochin-Chinese ; lex, Lat. ; loi, Fr., &c. 

L becomes E : — ruck, " shine," Sans. ; ranj, " attach," Sans. ; 
rub, Eng. (p. 147). 

S + L: — slime, Eng.; sling, Eng.; slesha, "union," Sans.; 
salive, Fr. ; saliva, Eng. 

S -f P + L : — splice, Eng. ; splayed, Eng. 

G + L: — 'y\o(T(Ta, Gr. ; gloss, glide, glue, grip, Eng.; argilla, 
gelidus, Lat.; glisser, gele, Fr, 

K + L: — Ml, " attach," Sans. ; cling, clew, clay, clamp, cramp, 
Eng.; colter, Lat. 

P + L : — plain, prain, " embrace," Sans.; plaister, pleat, plug, 
plot, Eng. ; plecta, Lat. 

B -f L : — bloc, Fr. ; block, blot, braid, brace, Eng. 



INDEX TO ONO]MATOPS. 235 

F + L '.—flag, fleece, flossy, fold, fail, fool, foul, false, En^. 

V + L : — vale, vile, wool, Eng. ; vallee, Fr. 

M + L : — mlaid, mraid, " foolish," Sans. 

H + L : — hlot, Anglo-Saxon. 

Z + L : — zalq, *' tongue," Arabic. 

Vowels preceding L: — il, '' lie," Sans.; el, "place," Sans.; 
'aU, " sticking," Arab, j oleum, Lat. 



P=" puff." 

Po— p .,.«„„„.*,-. r™d p.. or.™*, 

motion forward, extending, filling, broadening : — phu, '* blow," 
Dardu; puff, Eng.; phut, "puff," Sans.; pufidan, "blow," 
Pers.; pulsum, Lat.; push, Eng.; [foux, O. Fr.; pouls, Yr.] 

P becomes B : — blow, breath, Eng. 

P becomes F :—fore, forth, Eng.; fi, "for," Arab.; fiff, 
"puff," Scotch. 

P becomes V: — vd, vtj, "blow," Sans.; vdj/u, "air," Sans.; 
vent, Fr.; wind, Eng. 

p_j-R + I:_^H, "fill out" (lit. "go forth"). Sans.; pra, 
" forward," Sans. ; per, pro, Lat. ; prd, " fill," Sans. ; par, " com- 
pleted," Pers, ; pur, " fill," Sans. ; pal, " nourish," Sans. 

PRI becomes PL: — plus, Lat.; plump, Eng.; emplir, Fr.; 
pleasure, Eng. ; platt, Germ. ; planh, pallet, Eng. 

PRI loses its liquid -.—push, " enlarge," Sans.; pusho, "flower," 
Astori; pahnd, "broad," Pers.; pokhnd, "nourish," pemt, 
" lover," pet, " belly," pan, " leaf," Hindi ; pydr, " affection," 
ydr, " friend," Pers. 

S + PRI : — spri, " please," Sans. ; spread, spade, span, expand, 
Eng. 

PRI is aspirated :—y?Ar//?//7, "flower," Sans.; phiV, "flower," 



236 LINGUISTIC ORIGINES.: 

Hindi; ;?AaZ^, " apple," Ghilghiti ; p^ar, " fruit," Hindi; pha- 
mul, "fruit," Khajuna; phdnda, "belly," Sans. 

S+PRI aspirated: — sphal, sphaVj *^ increase," sphand, "ex- 
pand," spundf " play," Sans. 

PRI becomes BL : — bloom, blossom, bulb, blade, boil, ball^ 
belly, Eng. Also BE : — broad, board, Eng. ; and loses its liquid : — 
bauch, Germ. 

PRI becomes 'Fit-.— Jill, flower, floor, tin-foil, friend, l^ng.; 
ansfullend, Germ. ; folium, forma, Lat. 

- P="suck." 

r onoraatop of in-sucking, drinking, nourishment, strengthening, 
power, lordship : — pi, pa, " suck," pat/as, "milk," Sans.; ttho, Gr.; 
pino, Lat.; pind, "drink," pyds, "thirst," Hindi. Pabidum, 
Lat.; pud, " food," Pers. ; pasture, pastry, Eng. Power, Eng. ; 
puissant, 7v. ; pati, " lord," pitri, " father, the nourisher," putra, 
" son, the nourished," Sans. ; panah, " protector," ptr, " old 
man," Pers. 

S + P ; — spout, Eng. 

S + P aspirated : — sjjhtti, sphdti, " increase," sphdy, "swelling," 
Sans. 

P becomes B : — bibo, Lat. ; boi7'e, Fr. ; bee, " the sucking 
creature," Eng.; ba-tsi, ^^ hee," Japan.; bshey, "bee," Georg. ; 
beer, Eng. 

P becomes F i—fung, " drink," Chinese ; food, fodder, father, 
Eng. 

P becomes V, &c. : — vin, Fr. ; wine, water, Eng. 

I onomatop of definition, that which is exterior to self, the second 
person, the other, there, beyond; as an intensifier, "down": — 
the, he, thee, thou, that, there, two, twice, twisting, twinkling, 
Enjr. 



INDEX TO ONOMATOPS. 237 

T becomes D : — dwij *^ two," Sans. ; duoj Lat. ; duality^ dvpli- 
catioUf duplicity, diverse^ Eng. ; div, " twinkle," Sans. ; di, 
** heaven," Kalashaj day, Eng.; dyo, dyota, *' lustre," Sans.; 
deity, Eng. 



T hecovae^ ^ '—jut, jyut, "sliine,"^7va, ^^W^e,^ jyotish, "light/ 
Sans. ; joy, juhilityj Eng. ; jou?^, Fr. ; jocns, Jovenif Lat. 

T becomes Z : — ztsfan, " live," Pers, 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



[The language is added in each case, because the same combination 
of letters has frequently different significations in different lan- 
guages. 

Translations are given of all words of Oriental, and of a few other 
little known lanoruao^es. 

For 219 equivalents of the word " Father," see pp. 192-199.] 



A, a base in Eg. Hier., 32. 
Ab, "now," Hindi, 183. 
Abeja, Span., 187. 
Abhi, " over," Sans., 148. 
Above, over, up, Eng., 38. 
Accomplir, JFr., 179. 
Accomplish, Eng., 179. 
Ace, Enff., 184. 
Achad, " one," Pehlevi, 184. 
Achchha-achchha, Hindi, 25. 
Achchhi, &c., Deng,, 21G. 
Achchhi, " eye," Pci/i, 221. 
A:^Av?, Gr., 124. 
Ad, " eat," Sans., 218. 
Adhas, " down," Sans., 9G. 
Adhi, '' above," Sans., 9G, 223. 
Adje, " above," Ghilghiti, 223. 
Adya, " to-day," Sans,, 1^3, 183, 

221. 
iEgidius, Lat., 107 note. 



Affluence, Eng., 179. 

Aflifnan, Goth.,\2^. 

Afufa, " puff," Galla, 182. 

076, Gr,y 79. 

Agedum, Lat., 79. 

Agesis, Lat,, 79. 

Agglutinate, Eng,, 120. 

K^ioq, Gr., 104. 

Agir, Fr,, 79. 

Agitate, Eng., 79. 

A7vota, 6rr., 1G7. 

Ago, Lat., 79. 

Agraffe, F;-., 12:3. 

Aham, " I," Sans., 184. 

Ailment, Eng., 134. 

Aisa, " this-like," Hindi, 97, 184. 

Aj, " to-day," Hindi and Mahr., 

221. 
A jja, "to-day," Pr///, 221. 
Aka, " one," Ahchasiau, 185. 
Akkhi, "eye," 7^.;/;,221. 
Akuuvj Gr., 109. 



240 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Akshi, " eye," Sans., 221. 
Akt, " one," Lappish, 185. 
Aku, " I," Mala^., 184. 
Akva, " one/' Vogulian, 185. 
Alaier, N. Fr., 131. 
Alampados, Fort., 152. 
Alapana, "complain," Sans., 79 

note, 
Alas, Eng,, 79. 
Alegance, iV. Fr., 118. 
'Alfatat, " mixing," Arab., 138. 
Aliaunce, iV; i<V., 131. 
Alienee, N. Fr., 131. 
Allegation, Eng., 131. 
Alliance, -E'w^., 119. 
Allocare, Lat., 119. 
Allogare, Ital., 119. 
AUouer, i^r., 118. 
Allow, Eng , 135. 
Allowance, Eng., 118. 
Ally, ^w^., 119. 
Aloft, Eng., 136 7?o/e. 
Alogar, Prov., 119. 
Along, j&w^., 130. 
'Als, "sticking," Arab., 137. 
Alter, Lat., 41. 
Am, JB;?z^., 104. 
Amhi, &c., PdU, 216. 
Aju(pi\vKt], Gr., 152. 
Ample, ^w^., 179. 
Ampliation, Eng., 179. 
Amplitude, ^/?^., 179. 
Amplus, Lat., 179. 
Ampoule, Fr., 179. 
Ampulla, Xa/., 179. 
An, ane, Eng., 185. 
An, " breathe," >Sf«?i5., 32. 
Ana', "I," Arah.,^M, 
Anak, " I," Ji7^. Hier., 184. 



And, ^w^., 39, 40. 
Ani, " I," Heh., 184. 
Ani, " here," Ghilghiti, 231. 
Ankh, " eye," Hindi, 221. 
Anta, "end," Sans., 41. 
Antar, " within," Sans., 41. 
Antara, " different," Sans., 40. 
Antarala, "interval," Sans., 41. 
Anthar, Goth., 40. 
Antima, "last," iSiflws., 41. 
Antra, " intestine," Sans., 41. 
Anu, ^'this," Ghilghiti, 231. 
Anti, "he," Ghilghiti, 231. 
Anwasancharat, ^^ he traversed," 

Sans., 97. 
Anya, "other," Sans., 41. 
Ape, J^fl/., 187. 
Apes, Lat., 187. 
Apianus, -La/., 187. 
Apiarium, Lat., 187. 
Apiarius, Lat., 187. 
Apicula, ia/., 187. 
Apiostra, Lat., 187. 
Apiostrura, Xa/., 187. 
Apis, Lat., 187. 
Arch, "honour," Sa7is., 165. 
Arcilla, Span., 123. 
Argentum, Za/., 165. 
Argile, Fr., 123. 
Argilla, //a/., 123. 
Argilla, Lat., 123. 
Aj07fAAo?, Gr., 123, 
Ari, " do," Eg. Hier., 24. 
Aij, ^^ acquire," Sans., 9S. 
Arj, ^Mionour," Sans., 165. 
Arti, " one," 3Iingrelian, 185. 
As, E7ig., 97. 

As, " exist," Sans., 96, 104. 
Ash, "to-day," Astori, 221. 



INDEX VERBORU^r. 



241 



Asht, " eight," Asfori, 213. 
Asht, " eight," Kaldaha, 213. 
Ashtan, '' eight," Sans., 213. 
Asman, "stone," Sam., 109. 
Asmi, " I am," Sans., 104, 216. 
Asthi, " bonp," Sans., 220. 
Asu, "swift," Sans.,\m. 
Asum, &c., " I am," &c., Arn- 

yid (^Sans. asmi, &c.), 216. 
At, " eight," Beng., 213. 
At, " bind up," Sans., 96. 
Atas, "hence," Sans., 183. 
Atchi, '' eye," GhiJijhiti, 221. 
Ath, " eight," Gw;., 213. 
Ath, "eight," Hindi, 213. 
Atha, '^ now," Sajis., 183. 
Ati, ^' bone," Ghihjhiti, 220. 
Ati, "bone," Kaldsha, 220. 
Atra, "here," *S'a«5., 183. 
Atsh, "eight," GhiJcjhiti, 213. 
Atshu, "to-day," Ghihjhiti, 221. 
Atthi, " bone," Pali and Pra- 

A?77, 220. 
Attonitus, Lat., 161. 
Au, "and," Hindi, 39. 
Aujom-d'hui, jPr., 164. 
Aur, "and," Hindi, 39. 
Ausbreiten, Germ., 176. 
Ausfullend, Germ., 179. 
Ausspannen, Germ., 170. 
Awry, ^w<7., 113. 



B. 

Ba, "be,"/irAfl;Mnr/,217. 
BaS ^* nobility," Arab., 190. 
Bab, "father," Pers., IIX). 
Baba, " flitlier," Pcr.v., 190. 



Babhler, -E^/?^., 4-5. 

Baddo, "large," Astori, 221. 

Badya, " tub," Pe;x, 176. 

Bag, Enrj., 180. 

B^r, "spade,'M?-«?>., 176. 

Balan, " increasing," Pers., 175. 

Balayanidan, " extend," Pers., 

175. 
Balin, "])illow," Pers., 175. 
Balish, " growth," Peis., 175. 
Ball, Eng., ISO. 
Balu, "swelling," Pe/-.s\, 175. 
Balud, " increase," Pers., 175. 
Balung, " cucumber, "Pe/-.v., 175. 
Ban, "prince," Pers., 190. 
Bar, "fruit," Pers., 175. 
Bara, " large," Hindi, 221. 
Barha, " large," Hindi, 221. 
Barrel, Eiig., 189. 
Bash, "injure," Sans, 95. 
Basha, "lord," T^r/f-., 190. 
Ba-tsi, '• bee," Japan.', 187. 
Bauch, Germ., 179. 
Bausch, Germ., 171. 
Bawl, "bursting out," Arab., 

176. 
Be, "two," (9 //;•., 213. 
Beach, Gael, 187. 
Becos, Phr}/fjiav, 13 ;/<>/^. 
Bee, ^w//., 187. 
Beer, Eng., 1H7. 
liefriedigen. Germ., 181. 
Ik/c, 6r/-., 13 wo/e. 
Beliman, A. S., 120. 
Belly, Eng., 45, 179, IHI. 
Belong, Eng., VMS. 
Beluccan,y/..S'., 120. 
IVn, "spring," Eg. HIer., 28. 
B«^nb^n, ''spring," Eg. JIicr.,'i^, 



242 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Beo, A. S.,IS7. 
Beo, Gael, 217. 
Beon, A, S., 217. 
Beorht, A. S,, 153. 
Better, E}ig., 41. 
Bevanda, Ital, 188. 
Beverage, Eng., 187, 188. 
Beveraggio, Italy 188. 
Bha, "shine," Sans., 147. 
Bha-i, "brother," Hindi, 221. 
Bhaj, "serve," Sans.,9S. 
Bhaj, "break," Sans., 174. 
Bhakha, " language," Hindi, 

108. 
Bhanj, "break," Sans., 174. 
Bhas, "shine," Sans., 147. 
Bhas, "shine," Sans., 147. 
Bhasha, " language," Hindi, 

108. 
Bhdtiko, " brother," PdU, 221. 
Bhavami, &c., "I am," Sans., 

217. 
Bhid, ^' break," Sans., 174. 
Bhind, " break," ^aw5., 174. 
Bhlas, "shine," Sans., 147. 
Bhlas, "shine," Sa?is., 147. 
Bhran, "noise," Sa7is., 162. 
Bhraj, ** shine," Sans.,147. 
Bhras, ^' shine," >Saw5., 147. 
Bhras, "shine," Sans., 147. 
Bhratri, "brother,'' Sa7is., 221. 
Bhrej, "shine," ^a?is., 147. 
Bhrins, "shine," Sans., 147. 
Bhu, " be," Sans., 217. 
Bibo, Lat., 187. 
Biene, Germ., 187. 
Bihtar, " better," Per.?., 41. 
Bij, ^Mightning," Mahr., 220. 
Bijli, "lightning," Hindi, 220. 



Bilaigon, Goth., 142, 

Biography, ^w^., 48. 

Biog, Gr., 217. 

Bioth, JWsA, 217. 

Birar, "brother," Arnyid, 221. 

Bird, Eng., 45. 

Bitshus, " lightning," Ghilghiti, 

220. 
Blabber, jEJw^., 45. 
Black, Swed., 126. 
Blad, A. S., 177. 
Blade, ^?z^., 177. 
Blaese, A. S., 153. 
Blare, O. Eng., 153. 
Blaren, Du., 153. 
Blaze, jE^w^., 153. 
Ble, Fr., 177. 
Bleiben, Germ., 129. 
Blend, ^w^., 132. 
Blifwa, Swed., 129. 
Bloc, T^r., 126. 
Bloca, P/-OV., 45, 126. 
Block, Erig., 119, 123, 124, 126, 

127, 128. 
Block, Ger77i., 126. 
Bloem, Du., 169. 
Bloma, A. S., 169. 
Bloma, Goth., 169. 
Blomme, Srved., 169. 
Blood, ^7?,^., 229. 
Bloom, Eng., 169. 
Blosse, Ge7'm., 126. 
Blossom, JE'/^^., 169. 
Blostma, Go^A., 169. 
Blot, Eng,, 126. 
Blot, Fr., 126. 
Blow, jE;?/^., 182. 
Blucken, Du., 126. 
Blume, Germ., 169. 



INDEX VRRBORUM. 



243 



Blunt, Eiig., 126. 
Board, Eng,, 45, 177, 
Bocla, Prov., 44, 126. 
Boel, O. Ft,, 180, 
Boil, Eng., 173. 
Boire, Fr., 187. 
Boisson, Fr., 188. 
Boo), Gr., 161. 
Boot, Eng., 180. 
Borso gonfilata, ItaLj 180, 
Bos, Z>M., 171, 
Bosc, Frisian, 171. 
Bosse, JPV-., 171. 
Bouch, Breton, 171. 
Bouche, Fr., 171. 
Bouchet, -Fr., 171. 
Bouchon, Fr., 171. 
Bourgeons, i^y., 180. 
Bourlet, Fr., 180. 
Bourree, Fr,, 180. 
Bourreler, jPr., 180. 
Bourrelier, Fr., 180. 
Bourse, i''/-., 180. 
Bourse gonflee, Fr , 180. 
Boursicauld, Fr., 180. 
Bourson, -F/%, 180. 
Boursoufflage, Fr., 180. 
Bowel, Eng., 180. 
Bowl, ^w^., 180. 
Bowsprit, Eng., 174. 
Box, ^. S., 171, 
Boyau, JFr., 180. 
Brace, Eng., 136. 
Braid, ^«<jr., 132, 
Brail, Eng., 136. 
B/oa7xo9, Gr., 162. 
Brawl, JJa?^., 162. 
Breath, Eng., 182. 
Breit, Germ., 177. 
Bret, G^erw., 177. 



Bridde, O. Eng., 45. 
Bright, ^/2^., 153. 
Briota, IceL, 174. 
Briser, Fr., 174. 
Broad, J:/?^., 45, 176, 177. 
BpopTt], Gr., 102. 
Brook, Eng., 162. 
Brouiller, i'V., 162. 
Browse, Eng., 169 7*0^^. 
Bruit, Fr., 162. 
Byoto?, G^r., 169. 
Bpva,, Gr., 169. 
Brush, " injure," Sans., 95, 
Brytan, ^. ^., 174. 
Bryte, Z>a?i., 174. 
Bshey, **bee," Georg., 187. 
Biichse, Germ., 171. 
Bud, <^ master," Pers., 190. 
Buds, jE://^., 180. 
Building, Eng., 134. 
Bulb, ^/?^., 173, 180. 
Bulk, Eng., 128. 
Bulky, Eng., 175. 
Bunch, i^r., 171. 
Bundle, Eng., 171, 180. 
Bvpo-a, Gr., 180. 
Bushel, ^w^., 171. 
Bushy, Eng., 171. 
Busk, O. Eng., 171. 
Biiske, P/. Du., 171. 
Buskin, A^/w/., 180- 
Buskr, IceL, 171. 
Busse, i>w., 171. 
Busse, PI. Du., 171. 
Bussel, Du., 171. 
Butt, i'rw//., 45, 187. 
Buxus, LaL, 171, 
Buzzelli, //«/., 12(;. 
By-fluga, led, 187. 



U 2 



244 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES, 



Caielle, Picard^ 2. 

Calange, Span.y 109. 

Caligo, Lat., 124. 

Cane, Ital, 108. 

Cancer, Lat.j 122. 

Cancro, Ital, 122. 

Canis, Lat.^ 108. 

Canonicus, Lat., 109. 

Car, Eng., 159. 

Carabus, Zat., 122. 

Carbo, ia^., 168. 

Care, Eng.^ 79 wo<e. 

Caru, A. S.y 79 wo^e. 

Catuliis, Lat., 108. 

Cavus, i^;^/., 157. 

Ceald, A. S., 126. 

Ceil, Eng., 157. 

Ceinture, i^r., 157. 

Cele, A. S., 126. 

Celebro, Lat., 168. 

Cercle, ^r., 157. 

Ceres, Jjat., 168. 

Chahar, " four," Fers., 213. 

Chaine, JFr., 157. 

Chaise, J^\, 2. 

Chakra, " wheel," Sans., 157. 

Cham, "eat," Sans., 227. 

Char, "eat," >Sfa7i.9., 227. 

Char, " four," Hindi, 213. 

Chariot, Eng., 159. 

Ch^ri, "four," Beng., 213. 

Charkh, " wheel," Pers., 157. 

Charv, " eat," Sans., 227. 

Chash, ^^ injure," Sans., 95. 

Chash, "eat," Sans., 227. 

Chatt, ^^cut," ^aws., 92. 

Chatur, ^^four," Sa^is., 213. 

Chear, '' four," 6^^/;., 213. 



Chervy, Ituss., 158. 
Chew, £;?2^., 227. 
Chha, " six," 6^^;., 213. 
Chhah, "six," Hindi, 213. 
Chham, "eat," Sans., 227, 
Chhay, "six," ^ew^., 213. 
Chhed, "cut," Sans., 92. 
Chhid, "cut," >S«W5., 92. 
Chhidr, " cut," Sans., 92. 
Chill, Eng., 126. 
Chho, "cut," Sans., 92. 
Chhut, "cut," Sajis., 92. 
Chhur, " cut," Sans., 92. 
Chien, jPr., 108. 
Chit, " wake up," Sa7is., 96. 
Chrit, " blaze up," Sans., 96. 
Chitter-chatter, Eng., 25. 
Chorda, Lat., 159. 
Xo/>a,7, Gr., 158. 
Chun, "cut," /S^aw5.,92. 
Chund, "cut," Sans., 92. 
Chunt, " cut," Sams., 92. 
Chut, "cut," Sails., 92. 
Cicada, Lat., 107 note. 
Cicala, Ital., 107 wofe. 
Ciel, Fr., 157. 
Cielo, /^a/., 157. 
Cigala, Fr , 107 Tzof^. 
Cingolo, Ital, 157. 
Cingula, ia^., 157. 
Cincta, Lat., 157. 
Circem, Lat., 158. 
Circhio, J^«/., 158. 
Circolo, Ital., 157. 
Circonference, jFV., 158. 
Circuit, Eng., 158. 
Circuitus, Lat., 158. 
Ciiculator, ia^., 158. 
Circum, Lat., 158. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



145 



Circumference, Eng., 158. 

Circumlocution, Eng., 158. 

Circulus, Lat.y 157, 158. 

Circus, Lat., 158. 

Cirratus, Lat., 158. 

Clffig, A.S., 123. 

Clseman, ^.^., 120. 

Clam, A.S., 121. 

Clam, J^^w^., 121, 125. 

Clamber, Eng., 123. 

Clammy, Eng., 121, 125. 

Clamp, Eng., 121, 125. 

Clarus, Za?f., 168. 

Clasp, Eng,, 122. 

Claudo, Lat., 124. 

Claustrum, ia^., 124. 

Claut, O. Eng., 122. 

Clava, Lat.y 125. 

Claws, E'w^., 122. 

Clay, Eng., 123. 

Cleam, O. Eng., 120. 

Cleat, £'w^., 122. 

Cleave, Eng., 122. 

Cleik, iSco^a, 123. 

Clek, Scotch^ 123. 

Clench, Eng., 123, 128. 

Cleofan, ^. S., 122. 

Cleowan, ^. >Sf., 122. 

Clew, Eng., 120. 

Cleye, O. Eng., 122, 123. 

Climb, Eng., 123. 

Clinch, ^^?i7-> 123. 

Cling, Eng., 122, 123, 128. 

Clinker, Eng.f 123. 

Clip, ^7?i7v 122. 

Clob, Welsh, 125. 

Clod, Eng., 124, 125, 130, 

138. 
Clog, Eng., 124, 12(>. 



Clog, vb., Eng., 128. 
Cloister, ^/^^., 124. 
Cloitre, Fr., 124. 
Close, E?ig., 122, 124, 130. 
Clot, Eng., 124. 
Clote, Dm., 124. 
Clotted, Eng.y 124. 
Clot-pole, ^/?^., 125. 
Cloture, Fr., 124. 
Cloud, Eng., 124, 125, 120. 
Cloudy, Eng , 126. 
Clouted, ^;/^., 124. 
Clown, Eng., 125, 130, 138. 
Cloy, Eng., 128. 
Club, Eng., 125. 
Club-footed, ^?ey/., 123, 125. 
Clud, A. S., 124. 
Clump, Eng., 125, 126. 
Clumsy, Eng., 126. 
Cluster, 7i^w^'., 124. 
Clutch, Eng., 122. 
Cluj/ster, A. S.y 124. 
Clysan, A. >S'., 124. 
Clytty, Somerset, 122. 
Clywe, A. S., 120. 
Cnawan, A. S., 168. 
Coelum, Za^, 157. 
Cognosco, Laf., 167. 
Coil, J5;w^., 157, 159. 
Cold, Eng., 126. 
Colique, Fr., 1;j8. 
Coller, Lat., 120. 
Collimataneus, Laf., 144. 
Collimate, Fng., 144. 
Colon us, Zr/^, 12^3. 
Comniunicarc, Lat., lOt). 
Completer, /*>., 170. 
CoiiHilgar, ^y>^//^, 1(>1>. 
Con, Eng., 1()H. 



246 



LINGUISTIC ORTGINES. 



Concavus, Lai., 157. 

Conceive, lEng.^ 167. 

Confidence, Eng., 163. 

Congeal, Ung.^ 126. 

Cooperire, Lat., 49. 

Copper, Eng., 38. 

Coprire, Ital., 49. 

Corbeau, Fr., 162. 

Corchos, Span.y 159. 

Cord, Eng., 159. 

Cork, ^w^., Dan., & /S'we^?., 159. 

Corke, Du,, 159. 

Corrni, Xo^, 109. 

Corona, Lat., 157. 

Corso, JifaZ., 159. 

Cortesa, Span., 159. 

Corvus, Lat., 162. 

Course, i^r., 159. 

Cours, Fr., 159. 

Courbe, i^r., 159. 

Cover, Eng., 114. 

Cow, Eng., 161. 

Cower, ^7?^., 124. 

Crab, Eng., 122. 

Crabba, ^. S., 122. 

Crabbed, -EJ/i^., 122. 

Cramman, A. S., 122. 

Crammed, Eng., 122. 

Cramp, JSr??^., 121. 

Crampe, Fr., 121. 

Crash, -E'w^., 95. 

Crapaud, Fr., 122. 

Crawfish, Eng., 122. 

Crawling, -E'w^., 122. 

Crayfish, Eng., 122. 

Credibilite, jF?-., 163. 

Credidimus, Eat., 163. 

Credit, Fr., 163. 

Creditor, i^>., 163. 



Credo, Lat, 163. 
Credule, i^r., 163. 
Credulite, Fr., 163. 
Creeper, Eng., 122. 
Cremare, Xaf., 168. 
Crew, Eng., 124. 
Cripple, ^w^., 122. 
Croire, Fr., 163. 
Crooked, Eng., 122. 
Crottes, i^r., 124. 
Crottles, Eng., 124. 
Crouch, JS'tz^., 124. 
Crow, Eng., 162. 
Crowd, Eng., 124. 
Crowded, -E'/?^., 124. 
Crown, Eng., 157. 
Croyance, ^PV., 163. 
Crubach, Gael, 122. 
Cru-cru, Fr., 8 woi?^. 
Crud, O. Eng., 124. 
Cru^, ^. >S^., 124. 
Cruddle, Eng., 124. 
Cruimh, Irish, 158. 
Crumbs, -&?2^., 124. 
Crumpled, Eng., 121. 
Crush, jE'w(7., 95. 
Crushed, ^7?^., 122, 124. 
Cruttles, Eng., 124. 
Cu, A. S., 161. 
Cuir, Fr., 159. 
Cuivre, jPr., 38. 
Cunning, Eng., 168. 
Cura, Lat., 79 wo^e. 
Curd, O. Eng., 124. 
Curdle, ^w^., 124. 
Curious, Lat., 79 wo^e. 
Curl, Eng., 159. 
Curled, ^w^., 158. 
Cursio, I^at., 159. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



2^7 



Cursitore, Lat., 159. 
Cursorius, Lat., 159. 
Currus, Lai., 158, 159. 
Cursiis, Lat., 159. 
Curvus, LaU, 157, 158, 159. 
Cuve, Fr., 157. 
Cyl, A. S., 126. 

D. 

Da, "give," Sajis., 10,92. 
Dachini, "right," "north," Gkil- 

cjhiti, 223. 
Dad, " give," Sans., 92. 
Dadh, " give," Sans., 92. 
Daeva, Lettonian, 163. 
Dags, 6^o?/i., 163. 
Dah, " ten," Pgr5., 213. 
Dahina, " right," Hindi, 223. 
Aa.yuojr, 6^r., 163, 168. 
Daiva, " divine," Sans., 163. 
Dakhin, " right," "south,"^mrft, 

223. 
Dakkhino, " right," " south," 

Fall and Frdkrit, 223. 
Dakshina, " right," " south," 

Sans., 223. 
AaKpv, Gr., 107 note. 
Danistan, " know," Fers., 168. 
Dardar, '^eating," Arab., 28. 
Das, " give," Sans., 92. 
Das, " give," Sam., 92. 
Das, " ten," Guj., 213. 
Das, " ten," Beny., 213. 
Das, "ten," Hindi, 213. 
Dash, Fnr/., 95. 
Dash, " ten," Kaldsha, 213. 
Da^an, " ten," Sans., 213. 
Day, Eng., 163. 
Day, " give," Sans., 92. 



Day, "give," A^aw^., 92. 

Day, '' ten," Ghihjhiti, 213. 

Day, ^^ten," ^s^oW, 213. 

Defile, Fng., 134. 

Defloration, Fr., 178. 

Deflorer, Fr., 178. 

Deflower, Eng., 178. 

Aefo?, Gr., 163. 

Aeifoj, 6^/-., 163. 

Deity, -E'wi/., 165. 

Delabi, Lat., 132. 

Delight, Eng., 142. 

Deligo, Xa^, 143. 

Delingere, Lat., 143. 

A)7Ao9, 6^r., 163. 

Demon, Eng., 163. 

Depenser, JV., 170. 

Des, " day," Ghilghiti, 231. 

Describe, -E'/?^., 48. 

Desos, Lettonian, 163. 

Deva, "god," ^aw.?., 163. 

Devil, Eng., 163. 

Dha, '*have," Sans., 136 n<^/e. 

Dha, "give," Sans., 92. 

Dhan, " sound," Sayi.'^., 160. 

Dharma, *' law," Sa7is., 118. 

Dhatu, Indian name for a base, 89. 

Dhi, "daughter," Hindi, 221. 

Dhi-a, " daughter,"Pr«/^r//, 221 . 

Dhiriya, " daughter," Hindi, 

221. 
Dhita, '* daughter," Fait, 221. 
Dhiya, 'Slaughter," Hindi, 221. 
Dhri, "place," <Sfln.t., 118, 13(5 

Dhrish, " injure," Sans., 95. 
Dhuni, " noise," Hindi, 162. 
Dhiish, "injure," *S^an«., 95. 
Dhwan, •' sound," Safis., 160. 



248 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Dhwani, "noise," Sans.y 162. 

Di, ^^ heaven," Kaldsha, 231. 

Dia, Celtic, 163. 

Diable, Fr., 163. 

Aiaa-tay Gr., 168. 

Did, Emj., 25. 

Dies, " day," ^5^0/-/, 231. 

Dieu, Fr., 163. 

Die was, Lettonian, 163. 

Dihb, '' daughter," Ghilghiti, 221. 

Dilatory, Eng., 133. 

Din, "day," Hmdi, 231. 

Din, ^w^., 162. 

Aio, Gr., 163. 

Dio, ItaL, 163. 

Dies, Span., 163. 

Disgust, ^??^., 228. 

Dispergere, ia^., 170. 

Displayed, Evg., 130. 

Div,^^shine,">Sfaw5., 163,164,231. 

Divas, '' day," >S^«w5., 231. 

Diverse, Eng., 164. 

Divinus, Za^., 163. 

Divus, Laf., 163. 

Divya, ^^ divine," Sans., 163. 

Diw, " sound," Sans., 160. 

Djosh, " ten," Arnyid, 213. 

Djott, ^^ small," Khajund, 221. 

Dju, ^Uwo," Arnyid, 213. 

Djurr, ^'daughter," J.rw2/i«, 221. 

Do, " two," .ffiwJ^, 213. 

Do, " two," Ghilghiti, 213. 

Do-do, i^r., 25. 

Donar, O. //. G., 162. 

Donner, iV^. ^. G., 162. 

Doubling, ^7^^., 164, 165. 

Dii, " two," Kaldsha, 213. 

Du, '' two," ^s^ori, 213. 

Du, '' two," Per^., 213. 



Du, " give," Eg, Hier., 24. 

Duality, Eng., 165. 
Dugdugana, "make a noise,*' 

Hindt, 27. 
Duhan, " stand," Eg. Hier., 24. 
Duhitri, " daughter," Sans., 221. 
Dui, " two," ^ew^., 213. 
Dukhtar, " daughter," Pers., 221. 
Duo, Lot., 164. 
Duplication, Eng., 164. 
Duplicity, Eng., 164. 
Dur-dur, Hindi, 25. 
Dut, " the hand," Eg. Hier., 24. 
Duw, Gael, 163. 
Dwi, " two," Sans., 164, 213. 
Dynan, ^. S., 162. 
Dyne, ^. >S., 162. 
Dyo, " lustre," Sans., 163. 
Dyota, " lustre," >Sa7zs., 163. 
Dyu, "shine," Sans., 163, 231. 
Dyut, "shine," Sans., 96, 163, 

213. 

E. 

E, " this," Beng.y 184. 
E, Ital, 39. 
E, Ital, 216. 
Eadem, Lat., 184. 
Eat, Pw^., 218. 
]&branler, Fr., 162. 
ficrevisse, Fr., 122. 
Een, Du., 185. 
Effeuiller, Fr., 178. 
£70), Or., 184. 
Ego, Lat., 184. 
Egy, "one," Hung., 185. 
Ei, "go,"P^. ^2er.,183. 
Ei, " this," Beng., 184. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



249 



Eihetuko, ** hence," Beng., 184. 

Ryuf, Gr., 104. 

Ein, Germ., 185. 

Ei-ovodhi, ^Miitherto," Beng., 

184. 
Eisthane, '^ hither," Be?ig., 184. 
Either, Ung., 40. 
Eitt, Norse, 185. 
Ek, " one," Gvj., 213. 
Ek, ''one;' Hindi, 213. 
t,k, '' one;' Kaldsha, 213. 
Ek, " one," Pers., 185. 
Eka, *^one," Sans., 1S4, 213, 

224. 
Ekhad. " one," ^e&., 184. 
Ekhane, ''here," Be7ig., 184. 
Eko, " one," Beng., 213. 
E/cvpa, Gr., 109. 
Eacv/)09, 6rr , 109. 
El, ''place," Sans., 139. 
EAeia, Gr., 144. 
Eloigner, Fr., 129. 
Elong, " one," Bhimdl, 185. 
Eyuo?, Gr., 35. 
Emot, " thus," Beng., 184. 
Eraplir, i'V., 179. 
Emu, " one," Mandshu, 185. 
En, Du., 39. 
Enarrant, Za^., 167. 
Enceinte, Fr., 157. 
Enclosed, Eng., 124. 
Encloyer, Fr., 128. 
Enflee, Fr., 180. 
En lever, 7<V., 136. 
Evv^pk;, Gr., 104. 
Eo, Lat., 183. 
Eom, ^. ^., 104. 
Eorih, A. S., 113. 
YL-Kup, Gr., 104. 



feparpiller, i^r., 170. 

Er, " do," Eg. Ilier., 24. 

Erthi, " one," Georg., 185. 

Escarabot, Langue d'Oc, 122. 

Escarbot, Langue d'Oc, 122. 

Eshchu, " one," Suanian, 185. 

Eslonger, Fr., 129. 

Esmi, Xi7A., 104. 

Est, Lat., 216. 

Et, Fr., 39. 

Eta, "this much," Hindi, 183. 

Etad, "this," >SrtW5., 183. 

Etch, ''eye," Kaldsha, 221. 

Etna, "this many," Hindi, 183. 

fetonner, Fr., 161. 

Etouffer, i^r., 161. 

ferourdir, Fr., 161. 

Evil, Eng., 134. 

Expand, ^72^., 170, 179, 226. 

Expanse, Eng., 170. 

Expansion, Eng., 170. 

Expletif; i^r., 179. 

Expulsion, Eng., 182. 

Expulsum, Lat., 182. 

Eyk, "one," As-^oW, 213. 

Eyk, "one," Ghilghiti, 213. 

F. 
F = p, a base, 38, 136 7wte. 
Fail, E7ig., 133, 134, 139. 
Failings, Eng., 133. 
Faillir, JPV., 133. 
Faith, Eng., 163. 
Fall, 7i';/^., 133. 
Fallere, Lat., 133. 
Fallibility, Eiig., 134. 
Fallirc, i^^f/., 133. 
False, Eng., 133. 
Father, i^w^., 188. 
Feihw, Gr., 163. 



250 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Feuillage, Fr., 178. 
Feuille, Fr., 178. 
Fi, "for," Aral., 148,182. 
Fidem, Lat., 163. 
Fil, Fr., 172. 
Filament, Eng., 172. 
Filature, Eng., 172. 
Filth, JSng., 134. 
Fi-to, "man," Japan., 189. 
Flag, Eng., 133. 
Flake, Eng., 126. 
Flambeau, Fr., 153. 
Flame, Eng., 153. 
Flamma, Lat., 153. 
Flamme, i^r., 153. 
Flare, Eng., 153. 
Flash, JJw^., 153. 
Flat, ^w^., 177, 226. 
Flax, Eng., 127. 
Fleax, A. S., 127. 
Fleck, Germ., 126. 
Fleece, £'w^., 127. 
Fleur, Fr., 169. 
Fleuraison, jPr., 178. 
Fleur-de-liser, Fr., 178. 
Fleurette, Fr., 178. 
Fleuriste, i^r., 178. 
Fleuron, Fr., 178. 
Fleuve, i^r., 131. 
Floe, Fr., 127. 
Flocc, A. S., 127. 
Flock, ^w^., 126, 127. 
Flocke, Germ., 127, 128. 
Flocon, Fr., 127. 
Floor, Eng., 177. 
Flora, ia^, 169. 
Floraison, Fr., 169. 
Flos, ia<., 169. 
Floss, E7ig., 172. 



Flossy, Eng., 127. 

Flow, ^w^., 131. 

Fluke, subs., Eng., Ill, 

Flyse, A. S., 127. 

Fodder, ^??^., 189. 

Foil, Eng., 172. 

Fold, Eng., 132. 

Folded, ^?z^., 177. 

Foliaceous, Eng., 111. 

Foliage, Eng., 111. 

Foliated, Eng., 111. 

Foliation, Eng., 111. 

Foliature, Eng., 111. 

Folier, Fr., 111. 

Folio, Eng., 111. 

Foliol, Lat., 111. 

Foliomor, Lat., Ill, 

Folium, Lat., 38, 45, 169, 177. 

Folleatus, Lat., 111. 

Folles, Lat., 111. 

Follicans, Lat., Ill, 

FoUiculus, Lat., 111. 

Folligena, Lat., 111. 

Follis, Lat., 111. 

Food, Eng., 189. 

Fool, Eng., 133, 139. 

For, Eng., 24, 182. 

Fore, Eng., 24. 

Forma, Lat., 179. 

Forme, Fr., 179. 

Formo, ttal, 179. 

Forth, Eng., 24, 182. 

Forth, ^w^., 225. 

Forward, Eng., 24, 182, 225. 

Foul, Eng., 134. 

Fox, Eng., 161. 

Fracture, -£^w^., 174. 

Fragment, Eng., 174. 

Frango, Zo^., 174. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



251 



Freund, Germ., 181. 
Friend, Eng., 181. 
Frondeo, Lat., 171. 
Frondescere, Lat., 171. 
Frondicamus, Lat., 171. 
Frondifer, Lat, 171. 
Frondosus, Lat., 171. 
Frons, Lat., 171. 
Fructeta, Lat., 171. 
Fructicare, Lat., 111. 
Fructifer, Lat., 111. 
Fructuosus, Lat., 171. 
Fructus, Lat., 111. 
Fruit, Eng., 170, 226. 
Frux, Lat., 111. 
Fudder, Germ., 189. 
Fuff, >Sco^cA, 182. 
Full, A. S., 179. 
Full, Eng., 178. 
Fiillen, 6rerm., 179. 
Fulljan, Goth., 179. 
Fulmen, ia^, 162. 
Fulness, Eng., 178. 
Fung, " drink," C/it;?., 187. 
Fungus, Lat., 173. 
Fuvni, ^W7?^., 182. 
Fyllan, A. S., 179. 

G. 

G, a base, 27, 51, 94. 
Ga, ^^and," Ghilghiti, 231. 
Ga, " also," Ghilghiti, 231. 
Gabh, ^^take," 6?aeZ., 47. 
Gal, "eat," Sans., 21, 227. 
Gala, " throat," Sans., 27. 
Gam, " go," Sans., 29. 
Taov, Gr., 161. 
rapya(f)ia, Gr., 27 wo^e. 
Tap'yapeiiiv, Gr., 27 wo/e. 
rap'yapKT/jiOi, Gr., 27 no<^. 



Vapyapi^o), Gr., 27 7iO<e. 

Gargle, J^??^., 27 7wte. 

Gargote, Fr., 27 ?zo^e. 

Gargotier, Fr., 27 wo^e. 

Gargouille, F'., 27 ?jo^e. 

Gargousse, i^., 27 note. 

Gauja, G^o^^., 161. 

Gaunon, Goth., 161. 

Gavi, Go^A., 161. 

r,;, Gr., 167. 

Gelaeccan, A. S., 120. 

Gelass, Bohem., 120- 

Gelassen, ^«v., 120. 

Gelatinate, Eng., 126. 

Gelidus, Za^., 126. 

Gelihtan, A. S., 152. 

Gemius, Lat., 167. 

Geno, ia^, 167. 

Gerato, Lat., 167. 

Germius, ia^, 167. 

Gero, Lat., 167. 

Gesco, Lat., 167. 

Gestio, ia^, 167. 

Gestun, A. S., 161. 

Giban, Goth., 47, 130. 

Gigno, Za<., 167. 

Gilles, Fr., 107 wo^e. 

Tivojpi^ei, Gr., 167. 

nvwo-Ko), G^/'., 167. 

Girdle, Eng., 157. 

Giriflan," seize," Pers., 115note. 

Girth, ZJw//., 157. 

Give, Eng., 47, 130. 

Ghas, ^'eat," Sans., 20, 227. 

Ghu, *^ sound," Satis., WAl 

Ghush, '* injure," 6f«n.f., 95. 

Glacies, Lat., 144. 

G1(C8, yl. 6'., 15:5. 

Glai, "fade," Sans., 140. 



262 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Glaimous, O. Eng., 121. 
Glair, Scotch, 121. 
Glaire, Fr., 121. 
Glance, Eng., 153, 168. 
Glanz, Germ., 168. 
TXa^vposj Or., 168. 
Glar, Scotch, 121. 
Glare, Eng., 153, 168. 
Glas, "eat," Sans., 221. 
Glass, i:ng., 153, 168.' 
Glaur, Scotch, 121. 
Glaze, JEng., 146, 153, 168. 
Gleam, Eng., 153, 168. 
Glean, Eng., 136. 
Gleba, Xat, 125. 
Gleissen, Germ., 168. 
Glen, JJ/?^., 130. 
Glent, Eng., 168. 
Glesan, ^. >S'., 168. 
Glide, Eng., 144. 
Glim, Eng., 168. 
Glima, Norse, 153. 
Glimma, Swed., 153. 
Glimmen, P/. i>M., 153. 
Glimmer, ^w^., 153, 168. 
Glimmern, PL Du., 153. 
Glimpse, Ung., 153, 168. 
V\l(txo<;, Gr., 144. 
Glisser, Jy-., 144. 
Glisten, Flng., 153, 168. 
Glisteren, Du., 153. 
Glitenan, JL. S., 153. 
Glitter, ^w^., 153, 168. 
Gliua, Pol., 123. 
Gliua, Muss., 123. 
Gloa, iV^orse, 168. 
Gloeren, Du., 126. 
TAofo?, G^r., 120. 
Glombe, O. JEng., 126. 



Glomme, Dan., 126. 
Glomung, ^. S., 126. 
Gloomy, ^/z^., 126. 
Glora, No7'se, 168. 
Gloriam, Xa^, 168. 
Gloriola, Lat., 168. 
Glory, Eng., 168. 
Glose, ^w^., 168. 
Gloser, Fr., 168. 
Gloss, XJw^., 146, 153, 168. 
T\o(T(Ta, Gr., 141, 146. 
Glossare, Lat., 168. 
Glouglou, Fr., 27. 
Glout, X;w^., 126. 
Glow, Eng., 168. 
Glowan, A. S., 168. 
Glowt, XJw^., 126. 
Glu, Fr., 120. 
Glud, Welsh, 120. 
Glue, JPr., 120. 
Gliihen, Germ., 168. 
Glum, A^., 126. 
Glupna, Norse, 126. 
Glus, Lat., 120. 
Glutinum, ia^., 120. 
Gluyeren, Du., 126. 
Glyn, iV^. Fr., 130. 
Gnarigare, Za^, 167. 
Gnaritas, Lat., 167. 
Gnarus, ia^, 167. 
Gnawing, Eng., 22^. 
Vvui(Ti^, Gr., 167. 
VvoxTOfxai, Gr., 167. 
Go, "cow," Sans.,\Q\. 
Go, " I," Ofl7i<o?i, 184. 
rco, 6^r., 167. 
rot/,7, Qr., 167. 
Gorge, XJw/7., 27. 
Gorge, Fr., 27. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



253 



Gorgo, Ital, 27. 

ro|07o?, Gr., 27 note. 

rop^/v(T/uLo^j Gr.j 27 note. 

Gout, Fr., 228. 

Grab, JSng,, 47. 

Grabh, ^* seize," Vedic Sans,, 47, 

48, 130. 
Grafting, JEng., 48. 
Granchio, Ital, 122. 
Graphic, -E'w^., 48. 
Graphicus, Lat., 48. 
Tpa(piov, Gr., 48. 
TpaipLS, Gr., 48. 
T/oa^o), (?r., 48, 228. 
Gras, "eat," Sans., 26, 227. 
Grasp, Eng., 47, 123. 
Gravare, /<aZ., 79 7iote. 
Gravis, Lat., 79 note. 
Greedy, Eng., 27. 
GrefFe, Fr., 48. 
Grever, i^r., 79 note, 
Gri, "swallow," >Saws., 2G, 27, 

45, 47, 51, 227. 
Grief, Eng.j 79 wo^e. 
Griffe, Fr., 123. 

Grih or Grab, " take," ^aw.<?., 47. 
Grim, Eng., 126. 
Grimper, i^?'., 123. 
Grip, Eng.y 47, 123, 175 note, 
r/)i7rtCo>, G'r., 123. 
r^ofTTo?, Gr., 123. 
Grippe, Fr., 123. 
Griida, Pol, 124. 
Grudka, PoZ., 124. 
Grum, Fr.y 8 «o/e. 
Griin, Fr., 8 no^e. 
Gu, "sound," Sans., 160. 
Guepe, Fr., 104. 
Gueule, Fr., 27. 



Guggle, Fw^., 27. 

Guile, Eng., 134. 

Guilt, Eng., 134. 

Gula, Za^., 27. 

Vvvt], Gr., 167. 

Gungeln, Swiss, 27. 

Gur, "eat," Sans., 221. 

Gurges, L., 27 7?o^e. 

Gurgel, Germ., 27. 

Gurgle, F«^., 27. 

Gurgustium, Lat., 27 //o/e. 

Guru, "heavy," Sans., 79 no^e. 

Gusto, /<«/., 228. 

Gustus, Lat., 228. 

H. 

Haddi, " bone," Hindi, 220. 

Haft, "seven," Pers., 213. 

Han, "incline," Eg. Hicr., 24. 

Han, « strike," >Sf«w5., 99. 

Hand, vb., Eng., 20. 

Handy, Fw^., 20. 

Hasht, "eight," P^7-.9., 213. 

Hasta, " hand," Sans., 220, 

Hastam, &c., Pers., 216. 

Hat, *^ hand," Mahr., 220. 

Hath, ^Miand," Hindi, 220. 

Hattho, "hand," Pali, 220. 

Have, Eng., 136 7io/e. 

Hay, " noise," Sans., 183. 

He, Eng., 183 woie. 

Heave, F71/7., 136 note. 

Hence, Eng., 184. 

Her, Du., 183. 

Here, yl. *S., ia3. 

Here, Eng., 183, 184. 

Hi! hi! 7%., 183. 

Hier, Germ., 183. 

Hishk, " injure," Sans., 95. 



254 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Hither, Eng., 184. 

HIH A' ^-y 131. 

Hlifian, A. S., 136. 

Hlot, A. S., 136. 

Hodie, Lat., 164. 

Homi, &c., Prakrit, 217. 

Honen, " be," Mahr., 216. 

Hospes, Lat., 189. 

Hospitium, Lat., 189. 

Host, Eng., 189. 

Host, "hand," Arnyid, 220. 

Hoste, Fr., 189. 

Hostry, Eng., 189. 

H6te, Fr., 189. 

Hotelerie, i^r., 189. 

Hotellier, Fr., 189. 

Ho-toki, "call," Ghilghiti, 231. 

Hound, J5:w^., 108. 

Houseleek, Eng., 136. 

Howl, ^w^., 159. 

Hoy, Span., 164. 

Hraben, O. H. G., 162. 

Hrafn, ^. >S.,162. 

Hri, " take," >Saw5., 47. 

Huile, Fr., 144. 

Hun, &c., Hindi, 217. 

Hund, >Sfwec?., 108. 

Hund, Germ., 108. 

Hunon, 0. H. G., 108. 

Hunt, Esthon., 108. 

Hurler, i^n, 159. 

Hurly-burly, Eng., 25. 

Hwe, " call," Sans., 232. 



I, a base, 23, 165. 
I, a definer, 41. 
I, Eng., 184. 



'I,'* one," Chin., IS5, 224.. 
I, " one," ^/'/^?/^a, 213, 224. 
I, "come," Kaldska,225. 

I, "go," Sans., 23, 99,182, 
182 note, 186. 

Ibi, Xa<., 184. 

Ibidem, Lat., 184. 

Ich, Germ., 184. 

Ichi, ''one" Mikir, 185. 

Ici, i^r., 184. 

Id, Za^, 184. 

Idam, " this," Sans., 183. 

Idanim, " now," Sans., 183. 

Idem, Lat., 184. 

Idhar, ^'hither," Hindi, 183. 

Idle, -E;^^., 132. 

tdris, " this-like," Sans., 183. 

levai, Gr., 99. 

Iha, ^^here," /Sfaw.9., 183. 

Ihate, <* hereby," Beng., 184. 

Ihatya, "here," Sans., 183. 

Ik, Du,, 184. 

Ik, ^^one," Tsheremissian, 185. 

tksh,"see," >Sfaw5., 146. 

Iku, " one," Gyami, 185. 

II, " lie down," Sans., 139. 

III, Eng., 134. 
Illness, -2Jw^., 134. 

llq, "attachment," Arab., 137. 

Implere, Lat., 179. 

Inflammation, -E^w^., 229. 

Inflated, Eng., 226. 

Infolio, Lat., 111. 

Ini, " this one," Beng., 184. 

Interior, ia^, 41. 

Interus, Lat., 41. 

Interval, Eng., 41. 

Intervallum, Za^., 41. 

Intervene, Eng., 41. 



INDEX VERBORURT. 



255 



lo, Ital, 184. 

Ire, Lat., 99. 

Is, Eng., 96, 216. 

fsh, " injure," Sans., 95. 

Ish, " wish," Sans., 188. 

Iva, " like," Sans., 183. 

It, '' here," Hindi, 183. 

tt, " bind up," Sans., 96. 

It, i, ja, " one," Ostiakian, 185. 

Itara, "other," Sans., 40, 41, 

183. 
Itas, " hence," Sans., 183. 
Itau, '' here," Braj, 184. 
itch, " bear," Ghilghiti, 221. 
Itek, " this-much," Hindi, 183. 
Iti, "thus," Sans., 183. 
Itna, " this-many," Hindi, 183. 
Its', " one," Japan., 185. 
Itta, " this-much," Hindi, 183. 
Ittha, " thus," Sans., 183. 
Ittham, " thus," Sans., 183. 
itz, " bear," Kaldsha, 221. 



J. 



Jaksh, " eat," Sans., 26. 
Jam, " eat," Sans., 227. 
Jan, " be born," Sans., 167. 
Jangam, " go repeatedly," Sans., 

29. 
Jash, " injure," Sans., 95. 
Je, Fr., 184. 
Jecur, Lat., 104. 
Jecus, Lat., 164. 
Jedel, jDw., 132. 
Jham, "eat," Sans., 227. 
Jhash, " injure," Saiis., 95. 
Jhush, " injure," Sans.^ 95. 



Jim, " eat," Sans., 227. 

Jiva, " life," Sa7is., 163. 

Jocor, Lat., 164. 

Jocus, Lat., 164. 

Jovem, Lat., 163. 

Jovialia, Za^, 168. 

Jovis, Lat., 163. 

Jour, jPV., 163. 

Joy, Ung., 163. 

Jubar, Lat., 164. 

Jubility, JE'w^., 164. 

Juk, " eat," Kaldsha, 218. 

Jupiter, Lat., 163. 

Jush, " injure," Sans., 95. 

Jush, "injure," Sans., 95. 

Jut, " sparkle," Sans., 96, 163. 

Juvo, Za^, 164. 

Jyotish, " light," >S'«W5., 16^3. 

Jyut, " sparkle," /Sans., 96, 163. 



K. 



Kad, " eat," Sans., 227. 
Kag, " crow," Hindi, 221. 
Kaka, ^'crow," aS^??*., 221. 
Kako, " crow," Khajunn, 221, 
Kako, *'crow," Pali, 221. 
Karava, ^' raven," Sans., 162. 
Karkata, " crab," Sans., 122. 
Ka/)/cnoj, 6'r., 122. 
Karnie, Finn., 158. 
Karn, " cut," 5an.v., 92. 
Kao0(o, Gr., 168. 
Ka/oTToj, (^r'r., 1()8. 
Kash, " cut," Sans., 92, 95. 
Kath, ^' distressed," /Si^w.^., 92. 
KaOe^pa, Or., 2 note. 
Kiiuen, Germ., 227. 



256 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES? 



Kauritha, Goth., 79 note. 

Kaurs, Goth.., 79 note. 

Keel, Eng., 159. 

Kepaviv/uii, Gr., 168. 

Kepao>, Gr., 168. 

Ke/oa?, Gr., 109. 

Kha, ^* eat," Astori, 227. 

Kha, <^eat," Ghilghiti, 227. 

Khad, '^ be firm," S^aw^., 99. 

Khad, *^cut," Sans., 92. 

Khad/ ^ eat," Sans., 227. 

Khad, *^ eat," Sam., 227. 

Khadana, ''food," Sans., 227. 

Khadin, "biting," San.<^., 227. 

Kha-i, '' ditch," ^m^^, 228. 

Khal, "aggregate," Sans., 140. 

Khan, "cut," Sans., 92, 228. 

Khana, " eat," ITindi, 227. 

Khand, ''bite," Sans., 227. 

Khand, "cut," ^«w.9., 92. 

Khanda, "piece," Sans., 227. 

Khandana, " destroying," Sans., 
228. 

Khani, " mine," Sans., 228. 

Khash, "injure," Sans., 95. 

Khed, '^ eat," Sans., 227. 

Khet, "eat," Sans., 227. 

Khid, " distressed," 5^^ws., 92. 

Khilkhilana, "burst out laugh- 
ing," Hindi, 28. 

Khu, "sound," Sans., 160. 

Khud, "cut," Sa7is., 92. 

Khund, " cut," Sans., 92. 

Khur, "cut,"AS'«w5., 92. 

Ki, " know," Sans., 96. 

Kil, <' attach," Sans., 140. 

K</>«:o9, Gr., 158. 

Kirm, " worm," Hindi, 48. 

Kirminis, Lit.h., 158. 



Kipvrj/ii, Gr., 168. 

Kishk, " injure," /S'^iw.?., 95. 

Kit, " know," Sans., 96. 

Klab, Pol., 125. 

Klabb, Swed., 125. 

Klsebe, i)aw., 122. 

Klseg, Ban., 123. 

Klaenga, Swed., 123. 

Klag, JDflw., 123. 

Klam, Bu , 121. 

Klam, "fade," ^aws., 140. 

Klamm, Germ., 121. 

Klamrae, Z>w., 121. 

Klamme, Germ., 121. 

Klamp, Z)w., 121. 

Klampe, Bu., 121. 

Klanken, Bav., 123. 

Klave, 6^erm., 122. 

Kleben, Germ., 122. 

Kleck, 6^erm., 126. 

Kleeven, Bu., 122. 

Kleg, Ban., 123. 

KAe^o), 6^r., 124, 168. 

KKeofxai, Gr., 168. 

K\eo9, Gr., 168. 

Kiev, Z)w., 123. 

Klib, " fail," Sans,, 140. 

Klijven, Bu., 1'22. 

Klinken, J>?/., 123. 

KXios, Gr., 168. 

KHs, " distressed," Sans.., 92. 

Klissen, B^i., 124. 

Klister, J)m., 124. 

KXidpov, Gr., 124. 

Kliv, "fail,"^aws., 140. 

Kloben, Germ., 125. 

Klods, Ban., 124. 

Klompe, Z)?^, 125. 

Klonte, Bu., 125. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



257 



Kloss, Germ., 124, 126. 
Kloster, Germ., 124. 
Klot, Du., 124. 
Klots, Swed., 124. 
Klotz, Germ. J 125. 
Klotzig, Germ., 125. 
YLXovkXov, Mod. Gr., 27. 
Klub', Huss., 125. 
Klumba, Icel.,125, 
Klump^ Dan., 125. 
Klumpen, Germ., 125. 
Klunt, Dan., 125. 
Klupe, Swiss, 123. 
Kluppel, i)w., 125. 
Kluster, Du., 124. 
Klynge, Dan., 123. 
Knajan, 6^. ^. G., 168. 
Knaul, 6^erw., 120. 
Know, Eng., 167, 168. 
Knowledge, Eng., 167. 
K6, O. ^. G., 161. 
Ko^Av, 6^r., 159. 
KoiAm/cof, 6^r., 158. 
KoAoi/, tr/-., 157. 
Kolbe, Germ., 125. 
Kolo, Slav., 158. 
KoAoi/, G^r., 158. 
Kovxri, Or., 109. 
Kojojy, G^r., 159. 
Kork, Du. and Srced., 159. 
Korkovoe, JRuss., 159. 
Kopwvf], Gr., 157, 162. 
Krab, Breton, 122. 
Krabbe, i)«w., 122. 
Krabbi, 7c6^/., 122. 
K/)a/i/3o9, Gr., 168. 
Krampf, Oerm., 121. 
Krank, Breton, 122. 
Krebiz, O. //. G., 122. 



Krebs, Germ., 122. 

Krevisse, Du., 122. 

Krevitse, Z)w., 122. 

Kri, " do," Sans., 10. 

Kri, kirna, " scatter," Sans., 

45. 
-Kpi^avoq, Gr., 168. 
Krid, "eat," Sans., 227. 
Krirai, " worm," Sajis., 48, 158. 
Krimi, " worm," Coptic, 158. 
Krit, " cut," Sans., 92, 96. 
Krit, " wrap up," Sans., 96. 
Kpva■a^\o?, Gr., 144. 
Kruyden, Z)w., 124. 
Kruyen, Du., 124. 
Ksbad, "cut," Sans.,92. 
Kshal, " aggregate," Sajis., 140. 
Kshira, " milk," Sans., 223. 
Kshiti, " earth," Sans., 222. 
Kshudra, "small," Sa?is., 221. 
Kshur, " cut," Sa?is., 92. 
Ku, "sound," Sans., 160. 
Ku, " sound," Sans., 160. 
Kud, " eat," Sans., 227. 
Kub], Germ., 126. 
Kukar, " dog," Hindi, 222. 
Kukkur, "dog," Beng., 222. 
Kukkura, "dog," >Saws., 222. 
Kul, " aggregate," Sans., 140. 
Kund, " distressed," Sans., 92. 
Kunnan, Goth., 168. 
Kwo9, Gr., 108. 
Kunt, " distressed," Sans., 92. 
Kunths, Go//i., 168. 
Kvwv, Gr., 108. 
Kurkura, "dog," Sans., 222. 
Kut, "cut," >S'«w.^., 92. 
Kut, "distressed," Sa7is., 92. 
Kut, "distressed," Sans., 92. 
S 



258 



LINGUISTIC OEiaiNES. 



Kutt, "cut," Sans., 92. 
Kutt, "distressed," Sans., 92. 
Kutta, " dog," Hindi, 222. 

L. 

L, a base, 94. 

La, "law," a Ch., 143. 

La, Span., 127. 

La, ^qassitude," C. Ch., 143. 

La, *^ call," a Ch., 143. 

Laa, Port, 127. 

La'ab, "play," Arab., 142. 

La'ab, "viscosity,'' Arah.,1^%, 

142, 149. 
Lab, "hang," Sans., 1^2. 
Labeda, " club," Hindi, 124. 
Labh, " obtain," Sans., 145. 
Labhasa, " a rope," Sans., 119. 
Labi, Za^, 132. 
Labia, ia^., 144. 
Lablaba, " clammy," Hindi, 121. 
Lac, i^r., 130. 
Lac, Prov., 120. 
Laca, PoW., 120. 
Laca, Span., 120. 
Lacca, Zi^«Z., 120. 
Lacca, Lat., 120. 
Lace, vb., Eng., 119. 
Laces, i\^. i^r., 120. 
Lacet, Fr., 120. 
Lachchha, ^'a bundle," Hindi, 

121. 
Lache, i^r., 133. 
Lachh, " distinguish," Saiis., 

145. 
Lachlachana, " be clammy," 

Hindi, 121. 
Lack, Dan., 120. 



Lack, >Swet/., 120. 

Lacryma, Lat., 107 wo<e. 

Lacs', O. Fr., 120. 

Lacus, Xa/., 130. 

LM, 'Moad," 2?^iwA131. 

Ladana, ^Ho load," Hindi, 131. 

Lad^-o, 'Moad," ITmi?, 131. 

Laddu, " sweetmeat," Sans., 120. 

Lading, Eng., 131. 

Lafaf, "stammering," J.m&., 149. 

Laff, "joining," J-ra&., 138, 150. 

Lafif, "crowd," J-r«&., 138. 

Laflafat, '^ eating voraciously," 

Aral., 149. 
Lafra, "binding," Arab., 138, 

150. 
Lafq, "joining," Aral)., 138. 
Lafz, '' word," J-ra&., 149. 
Lag, ^^ attach," Sans., 119, 129, 

139, 141. 
Lag, "taste," San.s., 142. 
Lag, " near," Hindi, 123. 
Lag, *^ attachment," Hindi, 141. 
Lag, Norse, 116. 
Lag, JceZ., 116. 
Lag, vb., J^7?y., 129. 
Laga, A. S., 116. 
Lagan, "holding fast," Hindi, 

121. 
Lagana, " apply," Hindi, 141. 
Lagbhag, "near," Hindi, 123. 
Lage, Swed., 116. 
Lagga, "attachment," Hindi, 

141. 
Laggi, "staff," J/zn^^;, 124. 
Laggs, Goth., 129. 
Laghb, " become weary," Arab., 

139. 
Laghis, " mixture," Arab., 138. 



J 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



259 



Laghu, " light," Sans., 136. 
Laghub, "foolish," Arab,, 138. 
Lagna, '^ attached," Sa?is., 129, 

135. 
Lagna, '' attach," Hindi, 119. 
Lagna, " like," Urdu, 141. 
Lagna, Port., 127. 
Lagnaka, "surety," Sa7is., 141. 
Lagti, "attached to," Ifmdi, 121. 
Lagu-a, '* paramour," //<7JfZ<", 141. 
Laguda, "club," Sans., 120. 
Lagut, " attachment," Hindi, 

141. 
Lah, A. 5., 116. 
Lah, " gum-lac," ^?n^;, 121. 
Lahja, ''tongue," Arab., 142. 
Lahja, "viscosity," Hindi, 121. 
Lahq, "adhering," Arab., 138. 
Lai', " tongue," C. Ch., 143. 
Lai, J\^. 7^>.,117, 131. 
Laid, Enrj., 130, 131. 
Laie, N. Fr., 116, 117, 131. 
Laiel, N. Fr., 111. 
Laigon, Goth., 142. 
Laine, Fr., 127. 
Lainers, O. Fng., 119. 
Lair, Fng., 131. 
Laisnes, N. Fr., 127. 
Laissar, Prov., 133, 135. 
Laisser, T^r., 133. 
Lait, N. Fr., 13-5. 
Laj, "shine," Sans., 147. 
Laj, " asliamed," Sans., 230. 
Laj, "l)urn," Sans., 230. 
Lajam, ''slime," Pers., 1^50. 
Lay a, "shame," Sans., 230. 
Lak, " taste," *SVfw.s-., 142. 
Lak, i>M.,120. 
Laka, liuss., 120. 



Laka, Pol, 120. 

Lak'a, "adhering," Arab., 138. 

Lakar, " club," jyewf//, 124. 

Lake, Eufj., 130. 

Lakh, '• gum-lac," Hindi, 121. 

Lakhlakhana, " gasp," ^t«^;, 28. 

Lakir, " line," Hindi, 144. 

Lakh, " mixture," Arab., 138. 

Lakkia, Finn., 143. 

Aa/c/co?, Gr., 130. 

Lakra, "lump," ^j/^^/;, 124. 

Laksh, "shine," Saiis., 145, 140, 

149, 151, 230. 
Laksha, "gum-lac," Sans., 120. 
Lakti, Lit/t., 142. 
Lakut, " club," Hind;, 124. 
Lai, "wish," Sans., 145. 
Lai, "red," Pens, 229. 
Laht, " saliva," Sans., 144. 
Lalama, "tail," *SV/;/s., 129. 
La'm, "saliva," Arab., 148. 
Lamb, "hang," Sa/L^., 132. 
Lamba, " long," Hindi, 129. 
Lamdor, "leash," Jlind, 121. 
Lamella, Zr/Y., 109. 
Lamlum, "crowd," Arab., 138. 
Lamm, "assembling," Arab., 

138. 
Lamp, Fnrj., L53. 
Lampadii, liuss., 152. 
Lamj)aras, Span., 152. 
Lampas, /y</^, 153. 
Lampata, " rovcfous," Sans., 

14.5.' 
Lampp, /♦>., 152, l'>J. 
Lami)en, Dn., 1.52. 
Lam|)cr, Dan., 152. 
AayuTTot, ^/r., 152. 
Lam per, Sned., 152. 



260 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Aajuyl/i<Sj G7\, 152. 

Lampy, Fol, 152. 

Lamq, ^' writing," A7'ab., 149. 

Lamz, " licking," Arab., 149. 

Lana, Ital, 127. 

Lance, JSng., 130. 

Lanclih, " distinguish," Sans., 

145. 
Land, Ung., 130. 
Lane, -E'w^., 130. 
Laners, N. Fr.y 133. 
Lang, Scotch, 129. 
Langa, "link," Sans., 123, 141. 
Langala, " plough," Sans., 109. 
Langaka, ^^ a lover," aSaws., 141. 
Langar, a rope, Pars., 119. 
Langh, " shine," /S'aws., 147. 
Langhana, ^'trespass," Sans., 

109. 
Langiman, " union," iS^aws., 141. 
Langot, O. Eng., 119. 
Langour, Eng., 129. 
Langr, (9. Norse, 129. 
Languir, i<V. , 129. 
Languish, Eng., 129. 
Languissant, i^^r., 133. 
Langula, "tail," Sans.^ 129. 
Langula, " tail," Sans., 129. 
Lanh, " tongue," (7. CA., 143. 
Lanj, *^ shine," Sans., 147. 
Lanja, " tail," Sans., 129. 
Lank, Eng., 129. 
Lank, "bird-lime," m7idi, 121. 
Aavo), Doric, 127. 
Lansht, " smooth," ^a/aiVm, 228. 
Lantern, -E^w^., 153. 
Lanterna, Lat., 153. 
Lanterne, Er., 153. 
Lanuz, .V. i^/-., 127. 



Lanyards, Eng., 119. 

Aao), Gr., 143. 

Lao, ^^ loose," C. Ch., 143. 

Lap, "speak," Sans., 79 wo/^, 
145, 149. 

Lap, " speak," C. Ch., 143. 

Lap, " bind," C. Ch., 143. 

Lapana, " mouth," Sans., 145, 
149. 

Lapita, "voice," Sans., 149. 

Lapsi, " gelatin," Hindi, 121. 

Lapsus, Lat., 133. 

Lapti, "gelatin," Hindi,\2\, 

La'q, "licking," Arab., 142. 

Laqs, " laying," Arab., 138. 

Laqs, "mixing," J.rfl6., 138. 

Laqt, " collecting," Arab., 138. 

Laqueus, Lat., 120, 230. 

Laqy, " meeting," Arab., 138. 

Las, Dan., 133. 

Las, " embrace," Sans., 139. 

Las, "lust," >Sari5., 144. 

Las, " shine," Sans., 147. 

Las, "tenacity," Hindi, 121. 

Lasa, " clammy," Hindi, 121. 

Lasab, "adhering," Arab., 138. 

Lasakna, "become viscid," Hin- 
di, 121. 

Lasam, " tasting," Arab., 148. 

Lasb, " adhering," Arab., 138. 

Lasb, "licking," Arab., 142. 

Laschen, Du., 120. 

Lasciare, /^aZ., 133. 

Lasd, "licking," Arab., 142, 
148. 

Lasf, "joining," Arab., 138. 

Lash, vb., Eng., 119, 131, 142. 

Lash, "wish," Sans., 145. 

Lashan, " support," Pers., 166. 



INDEX VEUBOUUM. 



261 



Lashkar, " army," Pers.^ 166. 

Laska, Bohem., 144. 

Laske, Dan., 120. 

Lasm, " tasting," Arab., 142, 
149. 

Lasn, " licking," Arab., 142. 

Lasna, "embrace," Hindi, 121. 

Lasora, a fruit, Hindi, 121. 

Lass, " licking," Arab., 142, 148. 

Lasse, Fr., 1.33. 

Lassen, Du., 120. 

Lassig, Germ., 132. 

Lassitude, Eng., 79. 

Last, adj., Eng., 129. 

Last, subs., Eng., 131. 

Last, vb., Eng., 130. 

Lasugh, " cleaving," Arab., 138. 

Lasuq, *^ conjunction," Arab., 
138. 

Lat', « licking," Araft., 142, 149. 

Lat, " tangled hair," Hindi, 121. 

Lat, " ligament," C. Ch., 143. 
Lata, " a creeper," Sans., 133. 
Latab, " adhering," Arab., 138. 
Latarna, "fatigued," Hindi, 133. 
Latch, vb., ^;?^., 119, 120. 
Latchet, E?ig., 119. 
Late, Eng., 129. 
Latf, "drawing near," Arab., 

138. 
Lath, jE;w^., 130. 
Lath, " lying," Arab., 1.38. 
Latm, '* joining," Arab., 138. 
Ldto, " low," Ghilghiti, 229. 
Lajs, "collecting," Arab.^ 1.38. 
Latshea, " red," Kaldsha, 229. 
Latt, " fastening," Arab., 138. 
Latthar, " slack," Hindi, 133. 
Lattice, Eng.y 130. 



Lattiz, iV^. i<V., 130. 

Latus, Lat., 180. 

Laty, '' sticking," Arab., 138. 

Latz, Prvv., 120. 

Lauern, Germ., 129. 

Lauhmuni, Goth., 152. 

Laus, 6ro^/i., 133. 

Laus, Xa^, 143. 

Laust, N. F., 117. 

Lauwe, Z>?^., 116. 

Law, Eng, 116, 119. 

La'w, '' leacherous," Arab., 149. 

Lawa'ih, " light," Arab., 150. 

La wand, " foolish," Pers., 125. 

Lawn, Eng., 130. 

Laws, "tasting," Arab., 148, 150. 

Lawt, " bedaubing," Arab., 138, 

149. 
Lax, Eng., 133. 
Laxare, Za^, 133. 
Laxity, Eng., 133. 
Laxus, ifl^, 79, 133. 
Lay, Eng., 119. 
Lay, " ligament," C. Ch., 143. 
Layde, N. Fr., 117. 
Layf, " filaments," Arab., 138. 
Laykat, " clay," Arab., 137. 
La% "licking," Arab., 142, 

149. 
La'z, " lying with," Arab., 138. 
Laz, Prov., 120. 
Lazab, "adhering," Arab., 137. 
Lazaj, "viscous," Arab., V'\S. 
Lazak, "coalescence," Arab., 1J)8. 
Lazaz, "fastening," Arab., Ki8. 
Lazm, " sticking," Arab., 138. 
Lazo, Span., 120. 
Lazy, J7/'£/-, 132. 
Lazy, " attached," Arab., 138. 



262 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Lea, N. Fr,, 116. 
Lead, vb., JEng,, 136. 
League, Eng., 116, 119, 133. 
Lealment, N. Fr., 117. 
Leam, O. Eng., 119, 120. 
Leaman, O. Eng., 141. 
Lean, adj., Eng., 129. 
Lean, vb., E?ig., 133. 
Lease, N. Fr„ 120. 
Leash, Eng., 119, 136, 142. 
Leave, Eng., 135. 
Leben, Germ., 130. 
Leccan, A. S., 120. 
Leccare, ItaL, 142. 
Lecher, Fr., 142. 
Lecken, Germ., 142. 
Lee, N. Fr., 117. 
Leech, Eng., 136. 
Leeks, ^?«^., 137. 
Leem, O. Eng., 154. 
Leer, Dan., 123. 
Leetch-lines, jEJ^y/., 120. 
Lefe, O. Eng., 141. 
Lefman, O. Eng., 141. 
Left, ^7?Y/., 135. 
Legalis, Lat., 155. 
Lege, Hiiss., 116. 
Lege, Wallach., 116. 
Leger, Fr., 136. 
Legge, Jifa/., 116. 
Ae7(o, 6r'r., 116. 
Lego, Lat., 117. 
Legua, /i^a/., 116. 
Lehm, Germ., 123. 
Aem, 6rr., 144. 
Leib, Germ., 45, 179. 
Aeix^v, Gr., 142. 
A«x^, G?'., 142, 143, 152. 
Leicht, Germ., 136. 



Leignes, N. Fr., 127. 

Leim, Germ., 120. 

Leimen, Germ., 120. 

Leise, i\r. i^r., 117. 

Leisible, N. Fr., 117. 

Leissie, N. Fr.,l\l, 

Leke, O. ii'/^Y/., 116. 

Lekha, ^^ line," >S(27zs., 144. 

Lekha, '' line," ZTi^z^^ 14i. 

Leliha, '' serpent," )Sa?is., 144. 

Krjfxa, Gr., 143. 

Leman, O. Eng., 141. 

Ar]/uL/j.a, Gr., 143. 

Lend, ^?i^., 119. 

Lenge, N. Fr,, 127. 

Lent, i^r., 129. 

Leof, J.. ^.,141. 

Leoht, A. S., 152. 

Le6ma, A. S., 152. 

Leoman, A. S., 153. 

Leosan, A. S., 133. 

Lepa, **a stain," Sans., 145. 

Lepaka, " plasterer," Sans., 145. 

Lepana, ^^ smearing," Sajis., 145. 

Ler, "slaver," Pers., 150. 

Lera, Swed., 123. 

Lescher, O. Fr., 142. 

Lesg, TFe/5/i, 132. 

Lestan, A.S., 129. 

Leshtii, " clod," Saris., 120. 

Let, FJng., 135. 

Letio, Russ., 123. 

Letiu, Wallach., 123. 

Letten, Germ., 123. 

Leu, A^. i^r., 117. 

Leuchten, Germ., 152. 

Aet;/co9, (rr., 152. 

Leurrre, i^/*., 136. 

Leus, Gael, 152. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



263 



Leus, N. Fr., 117. 

Aev(T(ro), Gr.y 152. 

Leust, ^Y. Fr., 117. 

Leux, N. Fr., 117. 

Leve, O. JEng., 141. 

Level, Eng., 130. 

Lever, Fr., 136. 

Levin, O. E7ig., 154. 

Levis, Lat., 136. 

Levres, Fr., 144. 

Lex, Lat, 116, 117, 133. 

Ae^iKov, Gr.y 143. 

Ley, N. Fr., 116. 

Ley, O. Emj., 116. 

Ley, Span., 116. 

Leye, i\^. i^;-., 117. 

Ley-gager, O. Eng., 116. 

Ley-land, O. Emj., 116. 

Lez, N. Fr., 117. 

Lezal, *' lick," Armen., 142. 

AeC*?, On, 143. 

Li, " viscous," Sans., 145. 

Li, " place," Sans., 139. 

Liat, N. Fr., 117. 

Liaz, N. Fr., 118. 

Lib, N. Fr., 130. 

Liban, Oo<A., 130. 

Libe, N. Fr., 130. 

Libella, Lat., 109. 

Liccian, A. S., 142. 

Licere, irt/., 117. 

Licette, N. Fr., 117. 

Atxai'o?, Gr., 142. 

Liche, iV^ F/-., 118. 

Licht, Bu., 136. 

Licht, 6fe?'w., 152. 

Lick, Eng., 141, 142, 143, 147. 

Lief, Bu., 141. 

Lief, Eng., 141. 



Liege, A^. Fr., 118. 

Liege-man, -E'??^., 118. 

Lien, Eng., 133. 

Lier, iV^. Fr., 131. 

Liers, i\^. P/-., 118. 

Lifafat, " bandages," Arab., 138. 

Lift, Eng., 38, 136, 136 7iote. 

Ligament, E?ig., 119. 

Ligan, A. S., 116. 

Ligare, Lat., 116, 117, 119. 

Lige, N. Fr., 118. 

Ligesse, ^". Fr., 118. 

Ligb, (?fle/., 142. 

Light, Eng., 136, 152, 155, 228. 

Lightning, Eng., 154. 

Ligo, Laf., 117. 

Ligu, " fool," Sans., 125. 

Ligiie, i^n, 116. 

Liguie, N. Fr., 118. 

Lib, " lick," >S^a;w., 142, 144, 145. 

Lijm, Bu., 120. 

Like, Eng., 141. 

Likli, " write," Sa7is., 142, 144, 

145, 146. 
Likhe, " write," A.v^or/, 229. 
Likyar, 'Svrite," Ghilghiti, 2'29. 
Lim, /ce/., 120. 
Lime, E?ig., 120. 
Lime, O. Eng., 120. 
Limits, ^?/^., 144. 
Limp, Eng., 132. 
Limpata, "a leacher," Sans., 145. 
Limus, Xr/<., 120. 
Lin, Fr., 127. 
Linch-pin, Eng., 1 19. 
Line, /^X^/., 144. 
Linea, Lat., 144. 
Ling, " one," Ahotn, 185. 
Ling, " paint," San.t., 142, 144. 



264 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Linga, " mark," Sans., 144. 

Linge, iV^. Fr., 127. 

Linger, Fng., 128, 129. 

Lingere, Lat., 142, 143, 152. 

Lingua, Lat., 143, 228. 

Lingula, Lat., 143. 

Liniment, Eng., 144. 

Link, Eng., 119, 123, 128, 154. 

Linkh, " perceive," Sans.y 146. 

Lino, Lat., 144. 

Lins, N. Fr., 127. 

Linstock, Fng., 154. 

Linum, Lat., 127. 

Lioht, A. S., 152. 

Liom, O. Eng., 154. 

Lioma, Norse, 153. 

Lios, Norse, 152. 

Lip, " smear," Sans., 144. 

Lip, J^?^^., 145. 

Lipatna, " cling," Hindi, 121. 

AtTToj, 6rr., 152. 

Lips, Eng., 79 wo^g, 144. 

Lipsa, " wish," Sans., 145. 

Lirka, Norse, 129. 

Lis, " licking," Pers., 150. 

Lisam, " tasting," Aral., 148. 

Lisan, " tongue," Arab., 142, 148. 

Lisaq, " adjoining," Aral., 138. 

Lise, N Fr., 117. 

Lishi, " spy," Ghilghiti, 228. 

Lishtan, " lick,'' Fers., 150. 

Lisible, iV^. Fr., 117. 

Lisidan, *' lick," Pers., 142, 150. 

List, N Fr., 117. 

Litana, "lay," Hindi, 133. 

Litharna, "draggle," Hindi, 133. 

Lithe, ^71^., 132. 

Lither, O. Eng., 132. 

Airpov, Gr., 109. 



Littikh, "fool," Arab., 138. 

Liuban, O. IT. G., 143. 

Liubs, 6?oM., 143. 

Liuchan, O. H. G, 152. 

Liuhath, Goth., 152. 

Liuhtjan, Goth., 152. 

Live, jE7?z^., 130. 

Liyinni, " tongue," Arnyid, 228. 

Liz, ^^ slippery," Pers., 150. 

Lizaq, " adjoining," Arab., 138. 

Llug, Tr(?/.^/i., 152. 

Load, -E/w/?'., 131. 

Loading, Eng., 130. 

Loadstone, -EJw^., 136. 

Loam, Eng., 120. 

Lob, ^. H. G., 143. 

Loo, A. S., 120, 130. 

Locare, J^a^, 119. 

Locca, A. S., 128. 

Loch, "perceive," Sans., 146, 

152. 
Loch, Scotch, 130. 
Lochaka, " eye," Sans., 152. 
Lochana, " eye," Sans., 152. 
Locian, J.. >S^., 152. 
Lock (of hair), Eng., 128. 
Lock, vb., Eng., 120, 130. 
Locke, Du., 128. 
Locke, Germ., 128. 
Locking, ^'w//., 119. 
Lockr, Icel, 128. 
Lodge, Eng., 131. 
Lodged, JE/w^., 131. 
Lodging, Eng., 131. 
Lofte, I>aw., 136. 
Log, Eng., 119, 124, 125. 
Aoyxo?> <7^*'» 130. 
Loggerhead, Eng., 125. 
Aoyo9, (?r., 143. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



265 



Lohita, "red," Sans., 229. 

Loi, Fr, 116. 

Loi, " law," a Ch., 143. 

Loi, " shine," C. Ch., 143. 

Loi, " string," C. Cli., 143. 

Loial, N. Fr., 117. 

Loians, N. Fr., 118. 

Loiastes, N. Fr., 117. 

Loiens, N. Fr., 118. 

Loilu, " red," Ghilgkiti, 229. 

Loin, Fr., 129. 

Loire, O. Fr., 136. 

Loisible, N. Fr., 117. 

Loisir, Fr,, 136. 

Loiter, Eng., 129. 

Lok, " perceive," Sans., 146. 

Loka, Icel, 120. 

Lokat', Russ., 142. 

Lokna, " catch," ^^■wrf^, 121. 

Loko, "slight," Ghilfjhlti, 229. 

Lole, " look," Arnijid, 228. 

Loll, Eng., 133. 

Lollard, ^w^., 133. 

Lolo, Fr., 136. 

Lolo, " red," Astori, 229. 

Lon, " near," Hindi, 123. 

Lon, Walloon, 129. 

Long, -E'w^/., 129. 

Longe,i^r., 119. 

Loon, Eng., 125. 

Loops, Eng., 132. 

Loos, iV^. Fr., 118. 

Loose, Ew^., 79, 132, 133. 

Lopri, " lump," Hindi, 124. 

Loqiior, Lat., 143. 

Loquax, Lat., 143. 

Losa, Stved., Ii33. 

Losen, Genii , 133. 

Loser, Z)i*,, 133. 



Loshan, "slush," Pers.y 150. 
Losht, "collect," iSa«5., 139. 
Loshta, " clod," Sans., 120. 
Loshtaki, " morning," GhiUjhiti, 

228. 
Loshte, " morning," A«^oW, 228. 
Loshtra, " clod," Sans., 120. 
Loshtu, ** clod," Sans., 120. 
Lot, ^w^., 136. 
Lor, Fr., 136. 

Lot, "delicious," Pers., 151. 
Loth, -E/w^., 129. 
Lothra, " lump," Hindi, 124. 
Lott, Swed., 136. 
Lotz, " slight," Arnyici, 229. 
Loueez, iV. Fr., 118. 
Louer, ^;-., 118. 
Loun, Limous., 129. 
Loung, Limous., 129. 
Lounge, i7«<7., 129. 
Loupe, Fr., 159. 
Lous, iV^. i^r., 117. 
Lout, Eng., 125. 
Lovage, iV^. Fr., 118. 
Love, £'/2^., 141, 143. 
Low, Eng., 134. 
Lowance, N. Fr., 118. 
Lowange, iV. Fr., 118. 
Lowe, 6>. l/'/i^/., 154. 
Lower, N. Fr., 118. 
Lowir, N. Fr., 118. 
Loyse, JV. Fr., 117. 
Lozel, i^«</., 13i3. 
Lpi, " cmhrace," Sans., 139. 
Lu'al), "viscosity," Arah., 149. 
Lu'aq, "licking," Aral>., 149. 
Lubber, i;w//., 125. 
Lubot, Lat., 14:}, 14^-), 147. 
Lubh, "love," >Srt;i.N-., 143, 145. 



266 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Liibricare, Lat., 144. 

Lubrico, Lat., 147. 

Luceo, Lat., 152. 

Lucere, Lat., 147. 

Lucerna, Ital., 152. 

Luc'ha, Bi^eton, 152. 

Luchjan, O. H, G., 152. 

Avxvo£, Gr,, 152. 

Luck, Eng., 141. 

Lud, " embrace," Sans., 139. 

Luer, N. Fr., 118. 

Lliften, PL Du., 136. 

Lug, vb., Eng.j 136. 

Luggage, Eng., 136. 

Lughat, " tongue," Arab., 142. 

Luh, " wish," Sans., 145. 

Luia, Breton, 152. 

Luire, Pr., 152. 

Luist, iV^. Fr., 117. 

Lujluja, "clammy," Hindi, 121. 

Lukna, "lurk," ifmc^i, 129. 

Lull, Eng., 136. 

Lullen, Germ., 136. 

Luller, 2>w., 136. 

Luma, " tail," Sans., 129. 

Lumen, Lat., 152. 

Lumiere, J^r., 152. 

Lump, Eng., 125. 

Lungi, Jila/., 129. 

Avco, Gr., 133, 143. 

Luoi, "tongue," C. Ch., 143. 

Luot, "law," a CA., 143. 

Lupus, Lat., 159. 

Lurch, i//2^., 129. 

Lure, Eng., 136. 

Lurk, :e;^^., 129. 

Lurka, Norse, 129. 

Lus, " meat," Arab., 148. 

Lush, "injure," Sans., 95. 



Lush, " slush," Fers., 150. 

Lust, ^7z^., 141, 143. 

Lustus, Goth., 143. 

Lut, " shine," Sans., 147. 

Lute, vb., Eng., 136. 

Luto, Ital., 123. 

Lutra, ia^., 109. 

Lutsh, "light," Kaldsha, 228. 

Lux, Lat., 143, 152. 

Luxi, ia^., 147. 

Luxuria, Lat., 143. 

Luxury, Eng., 143. 

Luzw, " tongue," Arinen., 142. 

Lwi, " embrace," Sans., 139. 

Ly, iV^. i^r., 117, 118. 

Lyance, N. Fr., 118. 

Lyaz, N. Fr,, 118. 

Lychnis, Lat., 152. 

Lyer, iV^. Fr., 118, 131. 

Lyi, "embrace," Sans., 139. 

Lym, iV^. ^r., 120. 

Lympha, Lat., 109. 

Lyse, N. Fr., 117. 

Lyst, iV^. Fr., 117. 



M. 



M, a base, 35, 104. 
Ma, " me," Armjid, 230. 
Ma, " me," Ghilghiti, 230. 
Machchhia, "fly," Prakrit, 220. 
Machchho, " fish," PdU, 220. 
Machhli, " fish," Hindi, 220. 
Madhya, "midst," >S'aw5., 38,221. 
Mahi, " fish," Hindi, 220. 
Mai, " me," Kaldsha, 230. 
Main, " I," Hindi, 35, 184. 
Maj, " middle," iMahr., 221. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



Majja, "middle," Ghilrjhiti, 221. 
Majjho, "middle," Pali and 

Prdhrif, 221. 
Makkhi, "fly," Hindi, 220. 
Makkbika, "fly," Pali, 220. 
Makshika, "fly," Sans., 220. 
Mam, " me," Sans., 35. 
Man, " I," Pers., do, 184. 
Mangajik, "fly," Kaldsha, 220. 
Manjhla, "middle," Hindi, 221. 
Manjhola, "middle," Hindi,22l. 
Mark, Eng., 146. 
Math, " grind," Sans., 92. 
Matshi, "fly," Ghikjhiti, 220. 

Matsya, " fish," Sans., 220. 

Matzi, " fish," Arnyid and -ffa- 
/asAfl, 220. 

Me, my, mine, Eng., 35. 

Meo-o?, (t?"., 38. 

Meum, Lat., 35. 

Med, " foolish," Sans., 140. 

Medium, ia^., 38. 

Melior, Lat.^ 41. 

Met, "foolish," Sans., 140. 

Mi* " me," Kkajund, 230. 

Mil, " embrace," Sans., 140. 

Min, "fish," Hindi, 220. 

Mio, 7^a/., 35. 

Mio, Span., 35. 

Mlai, " fade," 6ViW5., 134, 139, 
140. 

Mlaid, " foolish," Sans., 140. 

Mlait, "foolisb," Sans., 140. 

Mlechh, " obfuscated," Sans. 134. 

Moi, Fr., 35. 

Moi'09-a|0;^)?, Gr., 105. 

More, -E7w^., 41. 

Mosthc, " middle," Kaldska, 221. 

Mrad, "<!;riud," Suns.,^d2. 



267 

Mraid, " foolish," Sans., 140. 
Mrait, " foolish," Sans., 140. 
Mraksb, "anoint," Sans., 145, 

149. 
Mri, " die," Sans., 134. 
Mrid, "grind," Sam., ^2. 
Mriksh, " anoint," Sans., 145. 



— - — , ^ , ., __. 

Mriksh, " anoint," Sans., 14i 
Mu, " me," Astori, 230. 
MCi, "give," %. Hier., 25. 
ud, " grind," Sans., 92. 



Mud, " grind," Sans., 92. 
Muh, " be faint," >SV/;w., 140. 
Mujja, " middle," Ami/id, 221. 
Mund, " grind," Sans., 92. 
Munt, " grind," Sans., 92. 
Murchh, "fade," San.^., 140. 
Murchha, "fainting," Sans., 134. 
Miirkha, "a fool," San.s., 134, 

139. 
Mush, "injure," Sans., 95, 
Mut, " grind," Sans., 92. 



N. 

Xah, "bind," 6'an.s-., 231. 

Namela, Prov., 109. 

Nangar, " plough," Hindi, 109. 

Nanghna, " trespass," i//;^ J/, 109. 

Narrare, Lat., 107. 

Narro, Lat., 107. 

Nasco, Lat., 1()7. 

Naecor, Zcr^, 1G7. 

Natus, Lat., 107. 

Nau, " nine," Aslori, 213. 

Nau, "nine," Ghilghiti, 213. 

Nau, " nine," GuJ., 213. 

Nau, "nine," Hindi, 2V.). 

Navan, " nine," Sans., 213. 

Nay, " nine," Ihng., 213. 

Near, Eng., 231. 



268 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Nege, " one," Sokpa, 185. 

Nein, "one," Shan, 185. 

Neither, Ung., 40. 

Nek, " I," Be7^ber, 184. 

Nekki, " I," Berber, 184. 

Next, Eng., 231. 

Nexus, Lat., 231. 

Nga, " I," ^wrw., 184. 

Nigh, Eng., 231. 

Nike, " one," Olof, 185. 

Nikka, " one," Aimak, 185. 

Nil, " be thick," Sans., 140. 

Nitrum, Lat., 109. 

Niveau, i^n, 109. 

No, "nine," Ai^nyid, 213. 

No, " nine," Kaldsha, 213. 

Noca, " I," Quichua, 184. 

Nov?, 6/r., 167. 

Nosco, X«f., 167. 

Nri, " lead," ^«W5., 96. 

Nrit, " lead forth," Sans., 96. 

Nu, " sound," Sans., 160. 

Nuh, " nine," Pers., 213. 

Nvyu^jy, O., 109. 

Niing, " one," Khamti, Laos, 

and Siamese, 185. 
Nush, " injure," Sans., 95. 
Nutria, Span., 109. 



O. 

O, " and," Bengali, 39. 
Obliegen, Germ., 132. 
Obtundere, ia/^., 161. 
0Jt;(r(rei;9, 6r?'., 107 wo^e. 
Odor, ia^, 107 note, 
Oggi, /<«/., 164. 
Oil, Eng., 144. 
Oka, " one," Telugu, 185. 



Q^i;?, 6fr., 109. 

Oleo, Lat., 107 ?io^g. 

Oleum, Lat., 144. 

Oliva, iat, 144. 

Ondja, "to-day," Kaldsha, 221. 

Ondu, "one," Malabar and 

Canarese, 185. 
One, ^w^., 185. 
Onji, " one," Tuluva, 185. 
Onna, " one, Malaydlam, 185. 
Onomatop, the word, 54. 
Onru, " one," Tamily 185. 
Onth, *Mip," Hindi, 221. 
Onti, ^'lip," Ghilghiti, 221. 
Opacus, i«^, 49. 
O0eAAa), 6^r., 170. 
O0eAo?, G^r., 170. 
Operari, Lat., 49. 
Operire, ia^., 49. 
Opes, Lat., 49. 
Opimo, ia^, 49. 
Optare, Lat., 49. 
Optimus, Lat., 49. 
Opulens, Z«^., 49. 
Or, other, Eiig., 40. 
Orare, Lat., 50. 
Orbs, orbit, irt/'., 50, 113. 
Orcare, Lat., 50. 
Ordia, Lat., 50. 
OpeyvvjuLi, Gr., 165. 
0/>e7a), (^r., 165. 
Orphanus, Lat., 109. 
Orphelin, i<^r., 109. 
Osht, " eight," Arnyid, 213. 
Oshth, "lip," Beng.,221. 
Oshtra, "lip," Sans., 221. 
Oeev, Gr., 104. 
Oj?er, ^. ^.,40. 
Other, or, Eng., 40. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



269 



Otik, " one," Syrianian, 185. 
Over, above, up, Eng.^ 38, 136 

note. 
Overwhelm, -E"??^., 114. 
Ox, Eng., 161. 
Oxa, A. S., 161. 
Oxe, Dan., 161. 



P, " forth," a base, 23, 94, 182, 

186. 
P, " suck," a base, 200. 
P, a base in Eq. Hier., 32. 
P = f, 38. 
Pa, pi, "suck," Sans., 45 note, 

188. 
Pab, "father," Pers., 190. 
Pabulum, Lat., 2 note, 188, 189. 
Pad, " lord," Pers., 189. 
Padal, "flower," Pers., 175. 
Pada-pa, " tree," Sans., 188. 
Padar, "father," Pers., 190. 
Padding, Eng., 180. 
Pads, Eng., 180. 
naez*/, (?r., 189. 
Pah, "food," PrrK., 189. 
Pahan, " width," Pers., 176. 
Pahna, " brond," Pers., 170. 
Pahup, "flower," Urdu, 169, 

188. 
Paielle, Picard, 2. 
Paitis, "lord," Z^wr/, 189. 
Pain, "embrace," Sam., 139. 
Pain, " reservoir," Hindi, 188. 
Pal, " nourish," Sans., 178. 
Pala, "guardian," Sana., 178. 
Paladan, "stretch," Pers., 175. 
Palana, "cherishing," Sans., 178. 



Palananda, "augmenting,"Per5., 
175. 

Palandu, " onion," Sans., 173. 

Palasa, "foliage," Sans., 173. 

Palayidan, " increase," Pers., 
175. 

Paletta, ItaL, 177. 

Palette, P/-., 177. 

Palish, " growth," Pers., 175. 

Palla, "leaf," Hindi, 2'2Cy. 

Pallava, "sprout," Sans., 173. 

Pallet, Eng., 177. 

Pallo, "sprig," Hindi, 173. 

Palna, " nourish," Hindi, 179. 

Palu, " swelling," Pers., 175. 

Paludan, " be large," Pers., 175. 
I Pan, "leaf," Hindi, 226. 
I Pana, " wedge," P^r^., 175. 
i Panah, " protector," Pers., 190. 

Panuka, " beverage," Sans., 188. 

Panch, "five," ^e/j^., 213. 

Panch, " five," Gu}., 213. 

Panch, " five," Hindi, 213. 

Panchan, "five," Sans., 213. 

Ilai'^m-^efTroAm, 6rr., 168. 

Panj, " five," Pers., 213. 

Panna, " leaf," Hindi, 226. 

Panse, Fr., 179. 

Par, "completed," Pers., 179. 

Parana, "fulfilling," Sans., 178. 
I Parash, "expansion," Pax., 175. 

Paraf^u, " axe," Sans., lOt). 
I Parentage, i?«^., 189. 
I Pari, "cup," Sans., 178. 
I Pari, "fruit," Pvrs., 175. 

Parn, " leaf," Hindi, 22(i. 

Pare, "ghovel," Pers., 175. 

Parosh, " pimples," Pers., 175. 

Parv, " fill," Sans., 178. 



270 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Parwar, " nourishing," Pers., 

175. 
Parwas, "expansion/'Pers., 175. 
Pas, "injure," Sans., 99. 
Pas, ''see;' Sans., 10. 
Paschat, "behind," Sam., 221. 
Pash, " injure," Sans., 95. 
Pashida, " pumpkin," Fers., 175. 
Pasin, " behind," Per.s., 221. 
Paste, Eng., 189. 
Pastry, Eng., 189. 
Pasture, Eng., 189. 
Pat, " broad," Hindi, 176. 
Pat, " fall down," Sans., 96. 
Pat, " leaf," Hindi, 176. 
Patau, " roof," Hindi, 176. 
UaTt]p, Gr., 188. 
Pater, Lat., 188. 
Path, Eng., 176. 
Path, « extend," /S'a^i.?., 176. 
Path, " road," Hindi, 176. 
Pathas, " water," Sans., 188. 
Pathik, "traveller," Hindi, 176. 
Pati, " leaf," Hindi, 226. 
Pati, "lord," Sam., 189. 
Pato, " behind," Astori, 221. 
Patra, " dish," Hindi, 176. 
Patra, " leaf," Sans., 176. 
Patta, " leaf," Hindi, 176. 
Patti, " leaf," Hindi, 176. 
Pattu, "leaf," Astori, 226. 
Patu, " leaf," Ghilghiti, 226. 
Pauh, "water-stand," Hindi, 188. 
Paurta, " pleasing act," Sans., 

181. 
Pay, "milk," ITmr/i, 188. 
Payas, "milk," Sans., 188. 
Prizum, " food," Fer.^., 189. 
Pecchia, Ital, 187. 



Peg, &^., 128. 

lieidoiJLaL, Gr., 189. 

HeAeicv?, 6;^r., 109. 

Pelle, Fr., 111. 

Pellis, Lat., 134. 

Pem, " love," Hindi, 181. 

Pemi, " lover," Hindi, 181. 

Pen^ " embrace," Sans., 139. 

Pepi, " drink excessively," Sans., 

29. 
Pepie, ^r., 29 Jiofe. 
Per, i., 24, 182. 
Perceive, E?ig., 167. 
Percerpere, Lat., 168. 
Percipio, X«^., 168. 
Pere, Fr., 188. 
Peru, " belly," Hindi, 179. 
Pet, " belly," Hindi, 179. 
Peth, " belly," Hi7idi, 179. 
Petu, " gluttonous," Hi7idi, 179. 
Pey, "milk,"^i?i^^, 188. 
Pflegen, Germ., 132. 
Phailana, " spread," Hindi, 173. 
Phailao,"expansion,"^wc?i', 173. 
Phal, "expand," Sans., 99. 
Phal, " fruit," Hindi, 173. 
Phal, "ploughshare," Hindi,113. 
Phala, " apple," Ghilghiti, 226. 
Phala, "fruit," Sam., 170, 226. 
Phalamul, " fruit," Astori, 226. 
Phalang, "stride," Hi7idi, 173. 
Phalgu, " spring," Sam., 172. 
Phalgun, "spring," Hindi, 173. 
Phali, "shield," Hindi, \13. 
Phal6, " apple," JLs^oW, 226. 
Phalya, " flower," Sans., 170. 
Phamul, " fruit, Ghilghiti, 226. 
Phamiil, " fruit," Khajuna, 226. 
Phana, " hood," Sans., 172. 



INDEX YERBORrM. 



271 



Phani, " wedge," Hindi, 173. 
Phanda, "belly," Sans., 179. 
Phanda, " belly," Sans., 179. 
Phanta, "branch," Hindi, 173. 
Phaora, " spade," Hindi, 173. 
Phaphola, " blister," Hindi, 173. 
Phar, " fruit," Hindi, 173. 
Pharana, " split," Hindi, 173. 
Phari, " shield," Hindi, 173. 
Pharna, " rend," Hindi, 173. 
Phaskana, " split," Hindi, 173. 
Phata, " crack," Hindi, 173. 
Phata, " hood," Sans., 172. 
Phatak, "gate," Hindi, 173. 
Phatna, " be torn," Hindi, 173. 
Phatna, "split," Hindi, 173. 
Phena, " froth," >S«?w., 189. 
Phenala, " foamy," Sans., 189. 
^AoTTOTjy?, Gr., 189. 
Phonetic corruptions, 104. 
Phor^, " boil," Hindi, 173. 
Phorna, " break," Hindi, 173. 
Phu, "blow," I)ardu,226. 
Phu, " fire," Astori and Khajund, 

226. 
Phu-eti, " blow," Khajund, 225. 
Phuha, "teat," Hindi, 173. 
Phu-istai, "blow," Arnyid, 225. 
Phul, " expand," Sans., 99. 
Phul, "flower, Hindi, 109, 173, 

226. 
Phula, "swelled," Hindi, 173. 
Phula-o, "swelling," Hindi, \Xl. 
^\iov, Gr., 1(59. 
Phull, "blossom," Sans., 170. 
f^Wov, Gr., 109. 
Phulna, "blossom," Hindi, 173. 
Phunerr, " flower," GhiUjhiti, 

220. 



Phungi, " sprout," Hindi, 173. 
Phu-she, " blow," Kaldsha, 225. 
Phut, " disagreement," Hindi, 

173. 
Phut, "odd," Hindi, 173. 
Phut, " puff," San.<^., 182, 225. 
Phuta, " hood," Sans., 172. 
Phutan, " disagreement," Hindi, 

173. 
Phu teono, " blow," Astori, 225. 
Phiiti, " disagreement," Hindi, 

173. 
Phutkar, "odd," Hindi, 173. 
Phutkara, "hissing," San.^., 182. 
Phutna, "be broken," Hindi, 

173. 
Phu toki, "blow," Ghihjhiti, 

225, 231. 
Pi, "suck," 5fr//^,^^, 29, 187. 
Pi, "swelling," Sans., 189. 
Piatto, 7^r//., 177. 
Pichhu, "behind," Hindi, 221. 
Pidaka, " pimple," San.^., 173. 
Pidar, "father," Pers., 190. 
Pidhana, *' a covering," Sans., 

20. 
Pil, Laf., \1'2. 

Pil, "obfuscated," ,S^/ //.<., MO. 
Pil, "swelling," Pers., 175. 
Pila, Dit., 172. 
Pile, 7-;////., 172. 
Piltan, "bulky," Pers., l/.l 
Pimple, En(j., 173. 
nr/iirA»;yu/, 6V., 179. 
Pina, "drink," Hindi, \H[). 
Pinda, "drop," Pers,, 175. 
Pinda, "lump," Sam., 173. 
Piri(j;ika, "lump," Sans, 173. 
Pindish, "ball," iV/-.<t., 175. 



272 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Uivco, Gr., 187, 188. 

Pino, Lat., 187. 

Pinta, "fatness," /S^aws., 189. 

n^o,, Gr., 187, 188. 

Pipa, " a barrel," Hindis ^6 note, 

189. 
Pipasa, "thirst," 8ans., 188. 
Pipasu, " thirst," 8ans., 188. 
Pipe,^^2^., 189. 
"Pipe " of wine, TJng., 45 note. 
Piper, Fr., 187. 
Pipi, " a pipe," Sindi, 45 7iote, 

189. 
Piplu, " a freckle," Sans., 20. 
Piquette, :Fr., 188. 
Pir, " old man," Fers., 190. 
Pirana, " elderly," Fers., 190. 
Pirtam, " world," Hindi, 176. 
Pish, " injure," Sans., 95. 
Pishto, " behind," Kaldsha, 221. 
Pith, "back," Hindi, 169, 176. 
Pitha, "water," Sans., 188. 
Piti, " drink," Sans., 188. 
Pitri, " father," Sans., 188, 189. 
Pitri, " the nourisher," Sans., and 

its congeners, pp. 192-198. 
Pittu, "behind," Ghilghiti, 221. 
Pitu, " drink," Sans., 188. 
Pivana, " large," Sans., 189. 
Pivara, " large," Sans., 189. 
Piy, " please," Sans., 181. 
Piyala, " cup," Fers., 189. 
Piyar, "old man," Fers., 190. 
Piyaz, " onion," Fers., 175. 
Piyusha, " nectar," Sans., 188. 
Placed, JEng., 131. 
Placere, Lat., 181. 
Plaga, /Sfwe^/., 132. 
Plaid, N. 15'r., 131. 



Plaiii, " embrace," Sans., 139. 

Plaindre, ^r., 131. 

Plaint, Eng., 131. 

Plaint, N. Fr., 131. 

Plaire, i^r., 181. 

Plaister, Eng., 136. 

Plait, Eng., 132. 

Plait, iV^. J^r., 131. 

Plan, Eng., 111. 

Planche, Fr., 111. 

Plane-tree, Eng., 180. 

Plank, Eng., 111. 

Planke, Geinn., 111. 

UXaTavo^, Gr , 180. 

Platanus, Lat.,\^0. 

Plsite, Eng., 111. 

UAaretay Gr., 180. 

UXariov, Gr., 180. 

nAaro?, Gr., 180. 

Piatt, Germ., 111. 

Platte, Fr., 111. 

UXarv^, Gr., 180. 

Play, Eng., 181. 

Pie, Fr., 111. 

Plea, jE;^^., 131. 

Please, Eng., 181. 

Pleasure, J^w//., 181. 

Pleat, Eng., 132. 

Pleated, Eng., 111. 

Plebs, iaY., 179. 

Plecta, Lat., 127. 

Pledge, subs., Eng., 131. 

Pledge, vb., E'?«^., 131. 

Pleger, Dan., 132. 

Plegg, N. Fr., 131. 

Plein, ^A, 179. 

Pleine, Fr., 180. 

Pleintie, N. Fr., 131. 

OAe^or, Gr., 179. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



273 



Pleit, N. Fr., 131. 

Plenitude, Fr., 179. 

Plenus, Lat., 179. 

Pleonasm, Eng., 179. 

HAeo?, Gr., 179. 

Plet, Dan., 126. 

Plet, N. Fr,, 131. 

Plethora, Eng., 179. 

nA)y^09, Gr., 179. 

Pleurer, i^r., 131. 

Plier, Fr., 132. 

Pliers, ^w^., 132. 

Plight, Eng., 131. 

Pligg, Swed., 128. 

Plock, Somerset, 126. 

Plorare, Zo^, 131. 

Plot, £'«^., 126. 

nAoirro?, (?r., 179. 

Pill, "flow," >Sfl;i5., 131. 

Pluck, Z'w^., 136. 

Plug, Du., 128. 

Plug, ^/?^., 127. 

Plugge, PL Du., 128. 

Plukk, Du., 126, 127. 

Plump, Eng., 173, 180. 

Plurality, Z'??^., 179. 

Plurimus, Lat., 179. 

Plus, Lat., 179. 

Plush, " fill," Sans., 178. 

Ply, jE/zi^., 132. 

Poculum, Lat., 188. 

Poele, i?^/-., 2. 

Poll, F/-., 172. 

no^p, Gr., 190. 

Poison, ^w//., 189. 

Pokhna, "foster," Hhtd;, 170. 

Pokhur, " lake," Hindi, 188. 

Polak, " bunch," Rindi, 179. 

Polished, Eng., 147. 



no\A^, Gr., 189. 

Pombo, " beer," African, 187. 

Pon, " five," Ghilghiti, 213. 

Pondj, " five," Kaldsha, 213. 

Pontsh, "five," Armjid, 213. 

Populus, Lat., 179. 

Posh, " five," A<itori, 213. 

Posha, "prosperity," Sans., 170. 

Poshna, "foster," .ff/w^//, 170. 

noo-if, (t/\, 189. 

Posna, " foster," Hindi, 170. 

Possible, J^;??//., 189. 

Pot, E?ig., 45, 187. 

Potable, Eng., 187. 

Potage, E'/?^., 187. 

Potatio, Lat., 189. 

Potation, Eng., 189. 

Potator, i«^, 189. 

Potion, Eng., 187, 189. 

Poto, Lat., 187. 

Potor, Zfl^, 187. 

Potrix, Lat., 187. 

Potus, ia^, 187, 188. 

Pousser, Fr., 182. 

Power, Eng., 189. 

Pozione, J^a/., 188. 

Pra, "forth," 6'a;w., 24, 182. 

Pra, " fill," ,Sfrtw^., 178. 

Prain, " embrace," Sans., 139. 

Prath, "extend," Sans., 17(). 

Pratha, "custom," Hindi, 176. 

Pratha, " fame," Satis., 176. 

Pnithima, "chief," San.f., 17(). 

Prathiman, "greatness," Sans., 

176. 
Prathiti, " fame," Sans., 176. 
Pre, Fr., 177. 
Prem, *' love," JETtW/, 181. 
Preman, <' kindness," 6'aw.<., iJ^l. 



274 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Pri, " fill," Sans., 178. 
Vr^ '' m];' Sans., 178. 
Pri, '' go forth," Sans., 186. 
Pri, "please," Sans., 24, 181. 
Pri, " please," Sans., ISl. 
Pri, " please," Sans., 181. 
Prid, "please," Sans., 181. 
Prin, " fill," Sans., 178. 
Prin, " please," Sam., 181. 
Princeps, Xa^, 165. 
Prise, Ung., 20. 
Prish, " injure," Sans., 95. 
Prishtha, "back," Sans., 169, 

176. 
Prith, "extend," Sans., 176. 
Prithu, "broad," /Sf^ws., 176. 
Prithula, "large," Sans., 176. 
Prithuka, "flattened grain,">S'aws., 

176. 
Prithuta, "largeness," Sans., 176. 
Prithwi, " earth," Sans., 176. 
Priti, "pleasure," Sans., 181. 
Priya, "beloved," Sans., 181. 
Priyaka, "bee," Sans., 181. 
npo, G^r., 24, 182. 
Pro, Zat., 182. 
Pron, "leaf," Kaldsha, 226. 
Propino, ia^., 187. 
Prush, ^^fill," Sans., 178. 
Pub, " father," Pers., 190. 
Pud, " food," Per5., 189 
Pudding, Eng., 189. 
Puella, Xa^., 190. 
Puellaris, Lat., 190. 
Puellariter, Lat., 190. 
Puellarius, Xa^, 190. 
Puellascere, Lat., 190. 
Puellatorius, Xa^, 190. 
Puelliter, Lat., 190. 



Puellula, Lat., 190. 
nve/oa, G^r., 190. 
Puerascere, Lat., 190. 
Pueraster, Xa^, 190. 
Puerculor, Lat., 190. 
Puerigenus, Lat., 190. 
Puerilis, Xa^., 190. 
Puerilitas, Lat., 190. 
Pueriliter, Xaf., 190. 
Pueritia, Lat., 190. 
Puernius, Lat., 190. 
Puerperus, Xa^., 190. 
Puerulur, Lat., 190. 
Pufi", ^7i^., 182. 
Puffed up, Bug., 182. 
Pufidan, "blow," Pars., 182, 

225. 
Puissant, Fr., 189. 
Pul, ^^ aggregate," Sans., 140, 

170. 
Pul, ^^ aggregate," Sans., 140. 
Pula, " bunch," Hindi, 179. 
Pull, "bunch," Hindi, 119. 
Pull, ^?2^., 136. 
Pulk, Esthon., 127. 
Pulkka, i^'i/iw., 127. 
Pulsum, Lat., 182. 
Pump, ^?^^., 187. 
Punyatara, "purer," Sans., 41. 
Piir, "fill,"^a/is., 178. 
Pura, ^^ filling," Sans., 178. 
Purd, "full," Per5., 179. 
Pura, "fully," Hindi, 179. 
Pura-i, "fulness," Hindi, 179. 
Purer, Eng., 41. 
Puridan, ^^ fill," Pers., 179. 
Purna, " able " Sans., 178. 
Purnata, ''plenty," Sans., 178. 
Purse, Eng., 180. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



275 



Purta, ^'complete," Sans., 178. 
Purv, " fill," Sans., 178. 
Purv, " fill," Sans., 178. 
Purwar, "filled," Fers., 179. 
Push, "enlarge," Sans., 170, 

188. 
Push, " enlarge," Sans., 170. 
Push, Eng., 182. 
Pushpa, "flower," Sans., 169, 

170, 188. 
Pusho, "flower," Astori, 226. 
Pushta, 'Mieap," Per^., 170. 
Pushti, "increase," Sans., 170. 
Putra, " boy," Sans., 190. 
Uv^t^, Gr., 171. 
nv^o9, Gr., 171. 
Pyah, » bee," ^wrwi., 187. 
Pyai, " swelling," Sans,, 189. 
Pyana, " drink," Hindi, 188. 
Pyar, "affection," Pers., 181. 
Pyas, " thirst," nindl, 188. 
Pyawna, " drink," Rindi, 188. 
Pyay, " swelling," Sans., 189. 



Q. 

Qalma, " worm," Chaldean, 158. 
Q'^n, " beat," Ey. Hier., 28. 
Q®nq*=n, " beat soundly," Eg. 
Ifier., 28. 



Ra a, '^ guarding," Arab., 166 
Ra'ab, "chieftain," Arab., 166 



Rabb, "ruling," Arab., 166 «or<'. 
Rabbud, "chief," Armen., 166 

Rabe, Germ., 162. 
Rabh, " wish," Sans., 145. 
Rabid, Ew//., 182 noie. 
Rachhas, " demon," Hindi, 166. 
Raff, "sucking," Arab., 150. 
Raff, "preserver," Arab., 166 

7wte. 
Rafi', " who exalts," Arab., 166 

Rafif, " shining," Arab., 150. 
Rafik," foolish," ^rfl6., 138. 
Roga, " disease," Safis., 230. 
Raihts, Goth., 165. 
Raj, " govern," Saivf., 165. 
Raj, "shine," San3., 147, 154. 
Raja, " king," Hindi, 166. 
Rajan, " king," Sans., 16^5. 
Rajaka, " splendid," Snns.y 154, 

165. 
Rajaka, " washerman," Satis., 

229. 
Rajanya, " soldier," Saiis., 165. 
Rajas, "sky," Sans., 229. 
Rajat, " white," Sa?is., 229. 
Rajih, "excelling," -4ra//., 166 

note. 
Rajput, " warrior," Hindi, 166. 
Raj puti, "courage," Hindi, 166. 
Rajya, " government," «Sa/w., 165. 
Rakasi, "devilisb," Hindi, 16(). 
Rakjan, Goth., HVj. 
Rakhaiya, " keeper," Hindi, 166. 
Rakhna, "guard," Hindi, ICA). 
Kakiisli," lightning," J'crs., 151. 
Rakhsha, "shining," Fers., 151. 
Kakbshidun, ''nhinc," Pers., 151. 

t2 



276 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Eakhwara, " shepherd," Sindt, 

166. 
Eaksh, "preserve," Sans., 154, 

166, 230. 
Rakshana, *' protecting," Sans., 

166, * 
Rakshas, '/ demon," Sans., 166. 
Eakshika, " watchman," Sans., 

154, 166. 
Rakshin, " policeman," Sans., 

166. 
Rama, " lover," Sans., 229. 
Ramana, " delighting," Sans., 

229. 
Ran, " noise," Sans., 162. 
Rana, "prince/' Hindi, 166. 
Rangh, " shine," Sam., 147. 
Ranj, " attached," Sans., 229. 
Ranj, " paint," Sans., 147. 
Ranja, " colour," Sans., 229. 
Ranjaka, "incentive," Sans., 229. 
Ranjana, " delighting," Sans., 

229. 
Ranyito, "paint," Astori, 229. 
Ranyito, " paint," Ghilghiti, 229. 
Rap, " speak," Sans., 145. 
Rapid, Eng.y 182 note. 
Rasa, " love," Sans., 229. 
Rasm, " writing," Arab., 149. 
Rashm, " marking," Arah., 149. 
Rasmi, "light," Sans., 230. 
Rat', " rheum," Arab., 149. 
Rati, " passion," Sans., 229. 
Raucus, Lat., 162. 
Raughan, " oil," Fers., 151. 
Havei J57w^., 162. 
Raven, Eng., 162. 
Razab, " sucking," Arab., 149. 
Reccan, A. S., 165. 



Recouvrir, J^?'., 49. 

Recover, Eng., 48. 

Rectus, Lat., 165. 

Regalis, ia^., 155. 

Regnare, Lat., 165. 

Regere, i«f., 165. 

" Regually," mispron. for '^ regu- 
larly," 45. 

Regula, Lat., 155. 

Regulation, Eng., 155. 

Relacher, Fr., 133. 

Relax, ^w^., 133. 

Relaxed, Eng., 79. 

Relieve, Eng., 133. 

Relish, :e;72^., 142, 147. 

Rej, " shine," ^a?25,, 147. 

Rejoicing, Eng., 164. 

Remplir, Fr., 179. 

Rep, " move," Sans., 99. 

Repandre, JPr., 170. 

Replenish, Eng., 179. 

Replete, ^?^^., 179. 

Rex, Lat., 165, 166. 

Rhwbio, Welsh, 147. 

Ri, " go," Sans., 23, 41, 99, 182 
note, 186. 

Ri, " go," Sans., 99. 

Ri, "viscous," Sans., 145. 

Ribabat, " lordship," Arab., 166 

Eichchho, "bear," Prakrit, 221. 
Rich, " honour," Sa7is., 165. 
Richh, "bear," Rmdi, 221. 
Right, :E/w^. , 155, 165. 
Rij, " firm," Sa7is., 165. 
Riksha, " bear," /Sfaw5., 221. 
Riph, " speak," /S^^z."?., 145. 
Rish, *^ injure," >Sa??s., 95. 
Roar, Eng., 79 ?io^e, 162. 



INDEX VEEBORUJI. 



277 



Rochaka, "pleasing," Sa7is.., 151. 
Rochana, " splendid," Sans., 151. 
Rochis, '^ flame," 8ans., 151. 
Rochishnu," gaily dressed,'^ Sans. y 

151. 
Rock, Eng., 123 note. 
Rodana, " grief," Sans., 79 7iote, 

162. 
Rodas, "heaven," Sam., 162. 
Rohan, "stand," Eg. Mier., 24. 
Rohita, "red," Sans., 22d, 
Roi, Fr., 165. 
Roj, '' day;' Fers., 151. 
Roka, "light," Sans., 230. 
'Rook, Eng., 162. 
Rosh, "light," Fers., 151. 
Rosha, " anger/' Sans., 230. 
Roshana, " quicksilver," Saris., 

230.* 
Rout, Eng., 162. 
Row, ^w^., 79 7wte. 
Row, -EJw^., 162. 
Roz, " day," Fers., 151. 
Ru, " be angry," Sans., 230. 
Ru, "sound," Sans., 79 wo^e, 

160, 162. 
Rub, Eng., 147. 
Rub, Gael, 147. 
Rubba, Norse, 147. 
Ruch, "shine," *S'aw5., 147, 151. 
Rud, " be angry," Sans., 230. 
Rud, "cry," *S'aw5., 79 7wte, 162. 
Ruddy, i?«^., 230. 
Ruefully, Eng., 102. 
Ruftan, "rub," Pcr.s., 147. 
Ruj, "burn," Sans., 230. 
Rule, Eng., 155. 
Ruler, Z«/., 165. 
Rukma, " bright," Sans., 230. 



Rumour, Eng., 102. 
Run, Eng., 20, 182 /?o/e. 
Runa, Geinn., 162. 
Riinen, Germ., 162. 
Runs, " shine," Sans., 147. 
Ruobbet, Lappish, 147. 
Rush, J^;/?^., 26, 95, 182 wo/e. 
Rush, " be angry," Safis., 230. 
Rush, " injure," Satis., 95. 
Rush, " paint," Sans., 230. 
Rusht, " bright," Fers., 151. 
Rut, " shine," Sa7is., 147. 
Ruzab, "saliva," Arab., 149. 
Ryn, A, S., 162. 



S. 

S, a base, 96. 

Sa, " with," Sans., 96. 

Sa, " like," Hindi, 97. 

Sabhaj, " serve," Sans., 98. 

Sad, "sit," Sans.,{}C). 

Sagh, " strike," Sans., 99. 

Sah, " he," Sans., 96, 183 note. 

Salia, " with," Sans., IX). 

Salf, " levelling," Ai^ab., 137. 

Saliva, J57w<7., 144. 

Sam, " with," Sans., IMJ. 

Sania, " like," Scuis., 97. 

Same, Eng. , 97. 

Samgam, "go with," Sans., 97. 

Sainpurn, " full," ///«<//, 179. 

Sangle, Z'V., 157. 

Sanj, " be attached," SariJt., 98. 

Sanjnfi, "convensant with," Sans., 

97. 
^ankha, "shell," Sans., 109. 
Saphala, " fruitful," Sanson 98. 



278 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Saptan, '^ seven/' Sans., 213. 
Sar, "fade,"ySfaw5., 140. 
Sar, "head," Fers., 220. 
Sarj, " acquire," Sans., 98. 
Sash, " injure," Sans., 95. 
Sat, "seven," Ben(/., 213. 
Sat, <^ seven," Guj., 213. 
Sat, <^ seven," Sindt, 213. 
Sath, "seven," Astori, 213. 
Sath, *^ seven," Ghilghiti, 213. 
Satt, "seven," Kaldsha, 213. 
Saurgan, Goth.^ 79 note. 
Say, " go," /S«^5., 98. 
Scarabaeus, Lat., 122. 
Schliessen, Germ., 124. 
Schlingeln, Germ.^ 135. 
Schlostern, Germ.y 133. 
Scortum, ia^., 159. 
Scorza, Zi^«/. , 159. 
Scramble, Eng., 123. 
Scriba, ia^^., 48. 
Scribble, Eng., 48. 
Scribere, Lat.^ 48. 
Scrinium, X«^., 48. 
Se, " with," mndi, 97. 
Seek, Eng., 139. 
S'emplir, J^n, 179. 
S^n, "breathe," Eg. Rier., 28. 
S^ns^n, "breathe," Eg. ffier.,28. 
Seyree, " I," 6?eor^., 184. 
Sha, "six," Astori, 213. 
Sha, " six," Ghilghitiy 213. 
Shash, "six," Fers., 213. 
Shash, *'six," 5^^725., 213. 
She, Eng.j 1S3 note. 
She, " tongue," Chin., 143 ;io/e. 
She-cho, "place," Chin., 143 

Sheon, "dog," Kald.'iha, 222. 



Shin, " lip," Chin., 143 wo<e. 
Shir, " milk," Fers., 223. 
Shish, "head," Astori and J?«- 

Idsha, 220. 
Shish, ''he2id,'\ Ghilghiti, 220. 
Sho, *^six," Kaldsha, 213. 
Shii, ** dog," Ghilghiti, 222. 
Sibi, Xaf., 183 ?iofe. 
Sigh, ^?^^., 79 note. 
Sih, " three," Fers., 213. 
Sihrih, "I," G^eor^., 184. 
Sil, " collect," 5^aws., 140. 
S'il, "collect," Sans., 140. 
Siia, "rock;' Sans., 123. 
Silindhri, "clay," Sans., 123. 
I^ili-pada, "club-footed," Sans., 

123. 
Silq^, " lying flat," Arab., 137. 
Similar, Eng., 97. 
Sinsin, "thirst," Arab., 28. 
Sir, " head," Hindi, 220. 
^iras, " head," Sans., 220. 
S'lrsha, " head," Zend, 220. 
Sish, " injure," Sans., 95. 
Sit, ^«^., 96. 
^Kapa/3eiov, Gr., 122. 
^apal3o9, Gr., 122. 
^eTTTojuai, Gr., 45. 
Skhad, "be firm," Saws., 99. 
S^oAio?, Gr., 158. 
Slack, ^^2^., 133. 
Slag, Eng., 135. 
Slaga, Swed., 135. 
Slain, ^;?^., 135. 
Slath, "loose," Sans., 135, 140. 
Slatha, " loose," Sans., 133. 
Slattern, Eng., 133. 
Slaw, ^. ;S., 129, 133. 
Slay, Eng., 135. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



279 



Sleep, Eng.^ 133. 

Slender, Eng., 136. 

Slesha, "union," Sans., 123. 

Sleshmaka, "mucus," Sans.^V^. 

Sleshman, " mucus," Sans., 123. 

Slet, Bu., 133. 

Slide, Eng., 144. 

Slight, Eng., 136, 228. 

Slime, Eng., 120. 

Slimy, Eng., 144. 

Sling, Eng., 135. 

Slingern, Du., 135. 

i^li-pada, " club-footed," Sans., 

123. 
Sli-padin, "club-footed," Sans., 

123. 
Slish, " shine," Sans., 154, 168. 
Slish, " embrace," Sans., 140. 
Slobber, Eng., 133. 
Slobbern, Bu., 133. 
Slog, Saxon, 133. 
Slok, "aggregate," *Sa«5., 140. 
I^lon, " collect," Sans., 140. 
Slouchy, Eng., 133. 
Slov, JDu., 129. 
Slove, I>«7i., 133. 
Sloven, Eng., 133. 
Slow, ^w^., 129. 
Sludge, Eng., 133. 
Slug, Eng., 129. 
Sluggard, -E«^., 129. 
Slumber, Eng., 133. 
Slumerian, ^. S., 133. 
Slummer, Z)m., 133. 
Slur, Eng., 133. 
Slush, iJn//., 133. 
Slut, Eng., 133. 
Slyk, Du., 133. 
Smash, ^»^., 95. 



So, Eng., 97. 

Soka, " grief," Sans., 79 no^e. 

Sommeil, Fr., 133. 

Son, jF^;-., 162. 

Sona, " sleep," Hindi, 133. 

Sonare, Zat., 162. 

Sonitus, ia^, 162. 

Sonno, Ital.f 133. 

Sono, Ital., 104. 

Sorg, Norse, 79 noie. 

Sough, En^., 79 woie. 

Sorrow, Eng., 79 no<e. 

Sot, " seven," Arnyid, 213. 

Souhaiter, Fr., 139. 

Sound, J&«^., 162. 

Spade, Eng.y 173, 177. 

Spaltan, O. II. G., 170. 

Span, Eng., 170, 181. 

Sparcir, 6';?a«., 170. 

Spargo, Lat., 170. 

Sparpagliar, Ital, 170. 

Spas, " injure," Sans., 99. 

Spear, E//^., 174. 

Specto, Lat., 4^5. 

Spend, i/n^., 170. 

Sphal, "expand," Sans., 99, 170. 

S<^aXAt.), Or., 133. 

-LcpaXfia, Gr., 1^3:5. 

Sphand, " expand," Sans., 170, 

171,177. 
Sphand, " play," San*., 181. 
Sphant, " phiy," &W<., 181. 
Sphar, " increase," Sans., 170. 
Sphara, " large," Sans., 172. 
Sphat, " expand," Sans., 170. 
Sphata, " hood," Sans., 172. 
Sphati, " increase," Sans., 189. 
Sphay, " Bwclling," Saw., 18J). 
Si)hira, " large," Sans., 172. 



280 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Sphiti, " increase," Sans., 189. 
Sphota, ^' bursting," Sans., 172. 
Sphul, "fexpand," Sans., 99, 

170. 
Sphund, " expand," Sans., 170. 
Sphund, *'play," Sans., 181. 
Sphur, *^ increase," Sans., 170. 
Sphiira, "swelling," Sans., 172 
Sphurchh, "expand," Sans., 170. 
Sphiit, "expand," Sans., 170. 
Sphut, "play," Sans., ISl. 
Sphuta, ^ ^ perspicuity, "jSaws. ,172. 
Sphuta, " manifest," Sans., 172. 
Sphutana, * ^opening," /Saw5., 172 
Sphutartlia, ^intelligible," Sans., 

172. 
Sphuti, " swelling," Sans., 172. 
Spider, Eng., 172. 
Spill, subs., Eng., 172. 
Spill, vb., Eng., 172. 
Spilla, JSTorse, 172. 
Spille, Germ., 172. 
Spillen, Fl. Du., 172. • 
Spin, E7ig., 172. 
Spina, Lat., 172. 
Spindel, Germ., 172. 
Spinder, Dan., 172. 
Spindle, j^w^., 172. 
Spine, Eng., 172. 
Spinnan, A. S., 172. 
Spinnen, Germ., 172. 
Splash, E't?^., 95. 
Splayed, Eng., 130. 
Splice, ^72^., 131. 
Splinter, Eng., 173, 174. 
Split, Eng., 170. 
Spoil, :e;w^., 172. 
Spoon, E)ig., 177. 
Spout, j^;;/^., 189. 



Spread, Eng., 173, 177. 
Spri, " please," Sa?is., 181. 
Spriet, Bu., 174. 
Sprinkle, ^w^., 172. 
Sprout, Eng., 173. 
Sraddha, " faith," Sans., 163. 
Srat, " believe," Sans., 163. 
S'rath, "fade," /S'a/z5., 140. 
Sri, *^go,"^aw5., 99. 
Sri, ^^«hine," Sans., 154, 168. 
Sringa, *^horn," Sans., 109. 
Srish, " burn," Sans., 168. 
Srip, "move," Sans., 99. 
S'ron, " collect," Sans., 140. 
Stan, " sound," Sans., 160. 
Stanana, "groaning," Sans., 161. 
Stanayitnu, " thunder," Sans., 

161. 
Stanita, " thunder," Sans., 161. 
Srero), (?r., 162. 
Sth^, " stand," Sans., 96, 218. 
SthM, "be thick," Sans., 140. 
Stohnen, iVT. ZT. G., 161. 
Stordire, J^a/., 161. 
Stri, "stretch," Sa7is., 98, 99. 
Stun, Eng., 161. 
Stynja, Jc^/., 161. 
Such, Eng., 97. 
Sueno, Span., 133. 
Suis, j?^n, 104. 
Sujjo, " sun," Frdkrit, 221. 
Sukshma, " small," Sa7is., 223. 
Sul, "sound," Sans., 160, 
Sum, ia^, 96, 104. 
Suono, Ital, 162. 
Supplier, Fr., 179. 
Supply, ^w^., 179. 
Siiraj, "sun," Hindi, 221. 
Suri, "sun," Kaldsha, 221. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



281 



Siiri, "sun/' Ghilghiti, 221, 
^vpiTTco, Gr., 162. 
Suro, '' sun/' Frdkrit, 221. 
Surya, "sun/' Sans., 221. 
Susurramen, Zat., 162. 
Susurrus, Lat., 162. 
Svart, " turn/' Sans., 99. 
Svri, "go/' Sans., 99, 
Svurchh, " expand/' >Saw5., 170. 
Swan, "sound/' Sans., 160. 
Swan, "dog/' /Saws., 108, 222. 
Swap, "sleep," Sans., 133. 
Swas, " breathe," Sans., 79 wo^e. 
Swasru, " mother-in-law/' Sans., 

109. 
Swasura, "father-in-law," Sa7is., 

109. 
Swri, " sound," Sans., 160. 



T. 



T, a base, 36, 41, 96, 164. 
T, a base in Ef/. Ilier., 32. 
Tad, '^ that," Sans., 183 note. 
Taftafat, "weakness/' Arab., 28. 
Tai, " thee/' Kaldsha, 231. 
Tain, "thou," IlhuU, 36. 
Tan, "sound," Sans., 160. 
Tan-badan, Hindi, 25. 
Tara, ** crossing/' /Sarw., 41. 
Taran, "three/' Gvj., 213. 
Tchau, "four," Kaldsha, 213. 
Te, Pr., 36. 
Te, Lat., 36. 
Te<ra>, G'/'., 1()2. 

That, Eng., 97, 16o. 
The, Eng., 183 /?o/c. 
Thee, thou, Eng., ^3(3. 



06^0?, 6^r., 163. 

0eo?, (?/•., 163. 

There, Eng., 165. 

This, JE-/?^., 97. 

Thou, Eng., 165. 

Thunder, £'w^., 162. 

Thunor, A. S., 162. 

Thus, Eng., 97. 

Tin, " three," Beng., 213. 

Tin, " three/' Hindi, 213. 

Tin-foil, jEJ/?^., 177. 

Tingle, Eng., 162. 

Tinkle, Eng., 162. 

Ton, -Fr. and Dan., 162. 

Tonantem, ifl^, 159. 

Tonare, Lat., 162. 

Tone, j&w^., 162. 

Tonidro, Span., 162. 

Tonitrus, Lat., 102. 

Tonitruura, ia^, 162. 

Tonnerre, Fr., 162. 

Tono, ia^, 162. 

Tono, Span., 162. 

To»/o9, Gr., 162. 

Tonus, ia^, 162. 

Topf, Germ., 45. 

Tour, f'r., 161 note. 

Towards, Eng., 114. 

Tower, Eng., 161 7eo/e. 

Trans, Lat., 41. 

Translucent, -Ew//., l'>3. 

Tre, "three," Ghilghiti, 213. 

Tre, "three," Kaldsha, 213. 

Trifle, f ;•., 38, 177. 

Tr69, Fr., 41. 

Tri, " three," Sans., 213. 

Tri, " cross over," San$., 41, 08, 

99. 
Trifolium, Xa/.,38, 177. 



282 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Tr6y, " three/* Arnyid, 213. 
Tshar, '' four/' Astoria 213. 
Tshar, *^four/' Ghilghiti, 213. 
Tshe, " three," Astori, 213. 
Tshirr, " milk/' Arnyid, 223. 
Tshirr, '^milk/' Xaldsha, 223. 
Tshishtik, " stand/ '^a/as^a, 218. 
Tshoi, " six/' Arnyid, 213. 
Tshor, " four/' Arnyid, 213. 
Tshukk toki, '^ be silent/' 6^Ae7- 

ghiti, 232. 
Tshuno, ^' small/' Astori, 223. 
Tshuno, ^' small/' Ghilghiti, 223. 
Tshuti, *^ earth," Arnyid, 222. 
Tu, '^thee/' Arnyid, 231. 
Tu, '' thee/' ^siJoW, 231. 
Tu, "thou/'Per5., 36. 
Tu, tus, '' thee/' Ghilghiti, 231. 
Tub, ^?zy., 45, 130. 
Tubus, tuba, Lat., 45. 
Tun, Eng., 130. 
Tuono, Jj^flZ., 162. 
Turn, Eng., 161 wo^e. 
Turris, Lat, 161 woiJe. 
Tus, " sound," fifa7?5., 160. 
Twam, "thou," Sans,, 36. 
Twice, j^w^., 164. 
Twining, Eng., 164. 
Twinkle, JEng., 163, 164. 
Twisting, ^??^., 164. 
Two, Eng., 164. 



U. 

U, a base, 159. 
U, *< sound," /SfriW5., 159. 
libel. Germ., 134. 
Ubils, 6?oM., 134. 



Udra, "other/' )SfflW5., 104. 

Uks, " one," Esthon., 185. 

Ukti, "speech/' >San5., 159. 

Uld, Ban., 127. 

tlf, iVbm, 159. 

UU, Swed., 127. 

Ulterior, Lat, 41. 

Ultra, ia^, 41. 

Ululo, Lat., 159. 

Ulysses, ia^., 107 note. 

tn, " exist," Eg. Hier., 32. 

Un, l^r., 185. 

Und, Germ., 39. 

Undi, " one," G^ow^, 185. 

Unloose, Eng., 133. 

Uno, J^aZ., 185. 

Unta, '' one," TJraon-Kol, 185. 

Up, above, over, ^«^., 38, 136 

note. 
Upiani, " drink," Quichua, 187. 
Upper, ^?^^., 136 note, 
Ush, " injure," 6^aw5., 95. 
Usht, " lip," Kaldsha, 221. 



Vi, " blow," >^aw5., 182. 
Vach, "speak," Sans., 50. 
Vad, " speak," Sans., 50. 
Vaddhako, " large," Pra^rij!, 221. 
Vaike, " one," 3Iordvinian, 185. 
Vale, Eng,, 134. 
Valle, Fr., 134. 
Valley, Eng,, 134. 
Valh, " speak/' Sans., 50. 
Vallis, Za^., 134. 
Vallum, Lat, 134. 
Var, " existing/' 2\irk., 34. 



INDEX VERBORUM. 



283 



Varb, " speak," Sans., 50. 
Varh, valh, '' pre-eminent," Sans., 

50. 
Varsha, " a cloud," Sans., 49. 
Vash, "injure," Sans., 95. 
Vat, " speak," Sans., 50. 
Vayus, " wind," Sans., 182. 
Velamen, ia^., 134. 
Veleno, Ital., 109. 
Veksh, " see," Sans., 146. 
Vellus,ia^., 134. 
Venenum, Lat., 109. 
Ventre, Fr., 179. 
Vichh, "speak," S^a^ns., 50. 
Vid, "know," Sans., 10, 163. 
Video, Lat., 163. 
Vidyut, " lightning," Sans., 220. 
Vie, Fr., 217. 
View, i/n^., 163. 
Vigliacco, Ital., 134. 
Vij, " blow," Sans., 182. 
Vijju, " lightning," Prakrit, 220. 
Vijjuli, " lightning, "Pm/£ri7, 220. 
Vijjuma, "lightning," Fdli,220. 
Vil, Fr., 134. 

Vilamb, " delay," Hindi, 129. 
Vilapa, " lamentation," Sans., 

149. 
Vile, E7?^., 134. 
Vilis, Lat., 134. 
Villa, .E«^., 134. 
Villain, En^., 134. 
Villanus, Lat., 134. 
Villein, a i;r?r/., 134. 
Villus, Lat., 1:34. 
Vin, Fr., 188. 
Vinaigrc, F/-., 188. 
Vinello, Hal., 188. 
Vita, ift^, 217. 



Vixen, Enrj., 161. 

Vlas, Bu., 127. 

Vlasch, J)?^, 127. 

Vleksh, "see," Sans., U(y. 

Vli, "embrace," Sans., 139. 

Vlies, Dw., 127. 

Vliess, Germ., 127. 

Vlocke, Bu., 128. 

Voice, Fw^., 161, 

Voir, Fr., 163. 

Voll, (?erm., 179. 

Voveo, Lat., 161. 

Vow, Eng., 161. 

Vowel, En^., 161. 

Vox, Lat., 161. 

Vri, " choose," Sans., 00. 

Vri, "go," Sans., 99. 

Vri,"surround," "choose," S(Uis., 

49, 134, 161 note. 
Vran, "noise," Sans., 162. 
Vridh, "increase," 6'an5., 49. 
Vridh, " speak," Satis., 50. 
Vriddha, "large," Sans., 221. 
Vrih, vriinh, " shout," Sans., 50. 
Vrindaraka, '* excellent," Sans., 

50. 
Vrish, "be grand," Sans., 50. 
Vrish, "injure," Sans., 96. 
Vrish, "rain," Sans., 49. 
Vrit, "speak," Sans., 50. 
Vrit, " turn," Sans., 49, 99. 
Vulpcs, irt^, 161. 



w. 

Wai^a, " lh:il-liko," Hindi, 97. 
Wail, />:/., 113, 131. 
Ware, vh., />/•, 113. 



284 



LINGUISTIC ORIGINES. 



Worm^ JEng., 48. 
Wary, Eng., 113. 
Wasp, Eng,, 104. 
Water, Eng., 188. 
Wei, " one," Kassia, 185. 
Weird, Eng., 114. 
Welkin, Eng., 113. 
Welt, Eng., 113. 
Welter, Eng., 113. 
Wheel, Eng., 113. 
Whelk, Eng., 114. 
Whether, J&w^., 40. 
Whirl, Eng., 114. 
Whorl, Eng., 113. 
Wield, ^w^., 114. 
Wild, Eng., 114. 
Wiles, jE/w^., 113. 
Will, Eng., 113. 
Wind, Eng., 182. 
Wine, ^72^., 188. 
Wire, Eng., 114, 161 wo^e. 
Wish, Eng., 139. 
Wlakno, Bohem., 127. 
Wlas, i?w5s., 127. 
Wol, Bu., 127. 
Wolf, :&?i^., 159, 161. 
WoUe, Germ., 127. 
Wolos', Muss., 127. 
Won, " one," Toduva, 185. 
Wool, JE/?i<7., 127. 
World, Eng., 113. 
Wrap, J5/w^., 113. 



Wreath, Eng., 113. 
Wrench, Eng., 113. 
Wriggle, ^?z^., 113. 
Wring, Eng., 113. 
Wrinkle, J57w^., 113. 
Write, Eng., 48. 
Writhe, E?ig., 113. 



Y, ^/?aw., 39. 
Ya, " go," Sans., 96. 
Yahan, "here," mndi, 183. 
Yajya, "holy," Sans., 104. 
Yak, " one," Fers., 184, 213. 
Yakrit, "liver," Sans., 104. 
Yar, " friend," Pers., 181. 
Yat, " strive after," Sans., 96. 
Yatas, " whence," Sans., 104. 
Yksi, " one," Finn., 185. 
Yu, " I," Chin., 184. 
Yun, " thus," mndi, 183. 
Yush, "injure," Sans., 95. 
Yut, " one," Kong- Chinese, 185. 
Yut, *' sparkle," Sans., 96. 



Z. 

Zalq, " tongue," Arab., 142. 
Zee, "one," Georg., 185. 
Zistan, "live," Fers., 163. 



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